Supernatural
by Sanura Bey
Summary: Liz Singer joins the boys in the hunt for both their father and what killed their mother, what differences will she bring to the plate?
1. Bloody Mary

Previously on _Supernatural_...

The Winchesters' suburban home.

**WHAT HAPPENED**  
**THAT NIGHT**

Mary ran up the stairs and into Sam's nursery.

John gave baby Sam to Dean.

"Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Now, Dean, go!"

Dean ran downstairs with Sam and John looked back.

**WHAT THEY**  
**WITNESSED**

Mary was burst into flames on the ceiling.

"Mary! No!" John called out to her as he watched the nursery burn, Mary with it.

**SENT TWO**  
**BROTHERS**

On SylvaniaBridge, Dean and Sam turned to face the onlookers.

"Dad's on a hunting trip." Dean told Sam and Jess.

Outside Constance's house, Dean fires through the Impala's window at Constance.

In Sam's bedroom, Sam pulled out his curved knife.

"And he hasn't been home in a few days."

**ON A QUEST**  
**FOR ANSWERS**  
**22 YEARS LATER**

"I swore I was done hunting." Sam told Dean in the stairwell of his apartment

In the Impala, Constance tries to rip Sam's heart out.

"I can't do this alone." Dean told Sam, begging him to help him.

Blood drips on Sam's forehead and he flinched, opened his eyes, and gaspped in horror. Jess was pinned to the ceiling, bleeding from a wound made across her middle.

"No!"

Sam finishes loading a shotgun and tosses it in the Impala's trunk.

"We've got work to do." Sam told Dean closing the lid of the trunk.

In the Jericho county sheriff's office, the Sheriff threw down John's journal.

"This is Dad's single—"

Dean held John's journal out to Sam.

"—most valuable possession—everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. I think he wants us to—"

They looked aver everything in the weapons box.

"—pick up where he left off."

Sam pulled Dean inside the motel room.

"You know, saving people."

Sam and Dean guarded Haley and Ben.

"Hunting things. The family business."

"No. I gotta find Jessica's killer." Sam told Dean.

Sam approached Jess's grave.

"It's the only thing I can think about."

The brothers leanned on the Impala.

"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?" Sam nodded at Dean's question.

"Yeah. I know."

**NOW**

SAM POV

"So I told someone I'd pick them up." Dean told me after another successful job.

"What? Who?" I asked looking at him.

"Liz." I looked at him in shock. The last time we saw Liz she was threatening to kill Dean for cheating on her.

"Are you sure she won't kill you?"

"That's what you're here for Sammy." Dean smiled at me. We pulled over at a motel and in front of it was a girl with a duffel bag and a small backpack. She had long black hair that fell in beautiful waves down her back. Black tight pants covered her legs and met black knee high heeled boots. Her red top was covered by a black leather jacket and her eyes covered by dark sunglasses. We pulled over in front of her and got out.

"Liz." Dean went to go hug her but she just ignored him and walked to me.

"Little Sammy Winchester. How long's it been?" she smiled at me and we hugged each other tightly.

"Hey Liz." I greeted her.

"Pop the trunk, Dean." She turned to him and grabbed her bags, waiting for him to open the trunk so she could put her bags in.

"Liz, can we talk?" Dean asked her quietly, even though I could still hear them.

"The only things we will talk about are jobs, Dean. Nothing more." I watched as she put her bags in the trunk and got into the backseat of the car.

LIZ POV

On the way to Ohio Sam fell asleep, but not quietly. He was tossing and turning in the seat in front of me. Dean made no move to wake him until we had stopped.

"Sam, wake up." I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly. He woke up with a jump. He sat up and looked around confused as to where he was. The Impala was parked in front of a large building.

"I take it I was having a nightmare." Sam said rubbing his eyes

"Yeah, another one." Dean told him.

"Another one?" I asked looking between both boys.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep." I looked confused at both boys. Why wasn't Sam sleeping? What had happened since I left them?

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this." Dean told him but he also glanced at me. I glared at his double meaning.

"Are we here?" Sam asked, ignoring his brother's comment.

"Yup. Welcome to Toledo, Ohio." Sam picked up the newspaper with Steven Shoemaker's obituary circled. We had picked up a newspaper on the way here for our usual mo.

**_SHOEMAKER, Steven_**  
_The Shoemaker family is sad to announce the sudden death of their beloved husband and father Steven Shoemaker. Steven was 46. A short service will be held on Wednesday, the 31 at 2:00 p.m. at their home in Toledo…_

"So what do you think really happened to this guy?" Sam asked us.

"That's what we're gonna find out. Let's go." We got out of the car and headed up to the hospital. We went to our usual place to start, the morgue.

* * *

There were two desks. The empty one has a nameplate that says _Dr. D. Feiklowicz_. The other one has the morgue technician.

"Hey." The morgue tech greeted us.

"Hey." Dean greeted back.

"Can I help you?" the tech asked.

"Yeah. We're the, uh...med students." Dean told him.

"Sorry?" the tech looked confused.

"Oh, Doctor—" Dean stumbled over the docs name. "—Figlavitch didn't tell you?"

"We talked to him on the phone. He, uh, we're from OhioState."

"He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker cadaver. It's for our paper."

"Well, I'm sorry, he's at lunch." The Tech told us going back to his paperwork.

"Oh well he said, uh, oh, well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind just showing us the body, do you?" Dean asked him.

"Sorry, I can't. Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him if you want."

"An hour? Ooh. We gotta be heading back to Columbus by then." Dean looked to Sam and I. I just nodded my head at the tech.

"Yeah." Sam verbally agreed with him.

"Uh, look, this paper's like half our grade, so if you don't mind helping us out—" I asked him.

"Uh, look," the tech looked back at the boys. "...no." Dean laughed a little then turned.

"I'm gonna hit him in his face I swear." Dean mumbled to us and Sam hit him on the arm. I stepped in front of them both and bent over to make sure the tech could see down my shirt.

"Hi, I really need to pass this class and it's my last chance. So, please, can we see it?" I flirted with him making sure to show him just enough to get him slightly bothered. He never once looked at my face and gulped a few times, sweat dripping from his brow.

"Follow me." The tech got up and left. Dean grabbed my arm when Sam and I started to follow.

"What the hell was that?" he asked me pissed and slightly jealous.

"We needed in and now we're in. At least we didn't have to pay money to see it. We followed the tech in and started talking about the case.

"Now the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding." Sam said. The tech pulled back the sheet over Steven's face.

"More than that. They practically liquefied." He told us.

"Any sign of a struggle? Maybe somebody did it to him?" Dean suggested.

"Nope. Besides the daughter, he was all alone." He told us.

"What's the official cause of death?" I asked him.

"Ah, Doc's not sure. He's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm? Something burst up in there, that's for sure." The tech told us.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked

"Intense cerebral bleeding. This guy had more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen." The tech told us.

"The eyes, what would cause something like that?" I asked.

"Capillaries can burst. See a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims." The tech explained.

"Yeah? You ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean asked.

"That's a first for me, but hey, I'm not the doctor." The tech reminded us.

"Hey, think we could take a look at that police report? You know for, uh...our paper." Dean asked.

"I'm not really supposed to show you that." The tech said looking at me. I looked back at him.

"What would it take?" I asked.

"A date; come back after you pass your class and let me take you on a date." The tech said.

"Deal."

After we looked at the police report we left.

"Might not be one of ours. Might just be some freak medical thing." Sam said, trying to think other things.

"How many times in Dad's long and varied career has it actually been a freak medical thing and not some sign of an awful supernatural death?" Dean asked.

"Uh, almost never." Sam replied.

"Exactly." Dean said.

"All right, let's go talk to the daughter." I told the boys and we got inside the Impala. We drove to the Shoemaker house talking about what it could be.

When we got there we silenced our conversation and walked into the funeral. There was a picture of Steven on the desk. The attendees were all men in black suits and women in black dresses, except the three of us.

"Feel like we're underdressed." Dean said and I smiled a little. We kept walking through the house towards the back. I picked up a booklet and looked at the surviving family.

"We are looking for either Donna or Lily Shoemaker." I told them. When we got outside a man pointed us towards a group of girls.

"You must be Donna, right?" Dean asked her.

"Yeah." She confirmed.

"Hi, uh—we're really sorry." Sam told her.

"Thank you." She said.

"I'm Sam, this is Dean and Liz. We worked with your dad." Dean looked at one of her friends then back at us.

"You did?"

"Yeah. This whole thing. I mean, a stroke." Dean said as I watched the girls.

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now" The blonde to her right told us.

"It's okay. I'm okay." Donna told her friend.

"Were there any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?" I asked her.

"No." she told us. The youngest girl turned to us.

"That's because it wasn't a stroke."

"Lily, don't say that." Donna told her.

"What?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset." Donna told us.

"No, it happened because of me." Lily insisted.

"Sweetie, it didn't." Donna tried soothing her.

"Lily." I got down on eye level with Lily. "Why would you say something like that?" I asked her.

"Right before he died, I said it." She told me.

"Said what, sweetie?" I asked, suddenly aware of the eyes burning holes in my back.

"Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror. She took his eyes, that's what she does." Lily told us.

"That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault." Donna tried again.

"I think your sister's right, Lily. There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" Dean asked her.

"No, I don't think so." Lily said looking down looking a little better. I smiled at her and we left them alone. We went upstairs to look at the scene where Steven died.

Sam pushed the door open and we saw some dried blood on the floor.

"The Bloody Mary legend...Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked us.

"Not that I know of." Dean answered while I just shook my head. Dean and I walked into the small bathroom and looked around.

"I mean, everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary, and as far as we know, nobody dies from it." Sam said.

"Yeah, well, maybe everywhere it's just a story, but here it's actually happening." I suggested.

"The place where the legend began?" Sam asked.

"Possibly." I said while Dean shrugged and opened the medicine cabinet.

"But according to the legend, the person who says B—" Sam stopped saying the name due to the mirror. "The person who says you know what gets it. But here—"

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah." Dean finished. "Never heard anything like that before. Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out."

"It's worth checking in to." I told them.

We left the bathroom to see the friend Donna was with earlier.

"What are you doing up here?" She asked us.

"We—we, had to go to the bathroom." Dean told her.

"Who are you?" She asked us.

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad." I told her.

"He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself." She gave us a look daring us to lie again.

"No, I know, I meant—" Dean tried again.

"And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that? So you tell me what's going on, or I start screaming." She's brave, I gave her that.

"All right, all right. We think something happened to Donna's dad." Sam finally told her.

"Yeah, a stroke." She said.

"That's not a sign of a typical stroke. We think it might be something else." I told her.

"Like what?" she questioned.

"Honestly? We don't know yet. But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." Sam told her.

"So, if you're gonna scream, go right ahead." Dean told her.

"Who are you, cops?" she asked. Sam looked over his shoulder at us.

"Something like that." Dean said.

"I'll tell you what. Here." Sam pulled out a paper and pen and started writing his number. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary...just give us a call." He handed her the paper as we walked down the hallway. We'd decided to go to the Library to do some research.

"All right, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some sort of proof—Like a local woman who died nasty." Dean said.

"Yeah but a legend this widespread it's hard. I mean, there's like 50 versions of who she actually is. One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." We walked into the actual library.

"All right so what are we supposed to be looking for?" I asked.

"Every version's got a few things in common. It's always a woman named Mary, and she always dies right in front of a mirror. So we've gotta search local newspapers—public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill." Sam said.

"Well that sounds annoying." Dean complained.

"No it won't be so bad, as long as we..." we looked at the computers which all said out of order on them. "I take it back. This will be very annoying."

The next morning I woke to Sam and Dean talking.

"No. I've looked at everything. A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but uh, no Mary." Dean was saying.

"Maybe we just haven't found it yet."

"I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know...eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Dean said before Sam's phone rang and he answered it.

"Hey, Liz." Dean said walking up to me on the bed.

"Hey Dean." I got up and grabbed my clothes to get dressed.

"I'm sorry, about what I did." I stopped and nearly turned before continuing on my way.

We soon found our way to the park and sat down next to Charlie who was crying.

"And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her—her eyes. They were gone." Charlie said looking at Dean.

"I'm sorry." Sam apologized.

"And she said it." Dean looked to me and Sam. "I heard her say it. But it couldn't be because of that. I'm insane, right?"

"No, you're not insane." I told her.

"Oh God, that makes me feel so much worse." Charlie told us.

"Look. We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained." Sam told her.

"And we're gonna stop it but we could use your help." Dean told her. We told her what we needed and set a plan into motion. Charlie went into Jill's house and opened the window for us.

"What did you tell Jill's mom?" Sam asked her going through our duffle bag.

"Just that I needed some time alone with Jill's pictures and things." Sam pulled out a camera from the bag as Dean shut the curtains. "I hate lying to her." She said.

"Trust us, this is for the greater good. Hit the lights." Charlie went over and turned off the lights.

"What are you guys looking for?" she asked us.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it." I told her. Sam handed the camera to Dean.

"Hey, night vision." Dean turned on the night vision for him. "Perfect." He aimed the camera to at Dean.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" Dean asked and Sam walked away with the camera. He opened Jill's closet door and began filming around the mirror.

"So I don't get it. I mean...the first victim didn't summon Mary, and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?" Sam asked.

"Beats me." Dean said as Sam closed the door. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place." He and I looked at Charlie.

"It's just a joke." She told us.

"Yeah well somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time." I told her as Sam was in the bathroom filming around the mirror.

"Hey." We looked at Sam. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?" he asked. Dean went back to get it while Sam moved the mirror to the bed and laid it upside down.

Dean threw him the black light when he got back up. Sam peeled off the brown paper that was on the back of the mirror and shone the black light over the back of the mirror and we see a handprint, and the words "Gary Bryman."

"Gary Bryman?" Charlie read the name.

"You know who that is?" I asked.

"No." she told us. When we went back out to the park Sam went to the closest place he could find to find out what happened to Gary Bryman. I sat on the bench with Charlie while Dean stood next to me.

"What'd you find?" Dean asked looking back behind me.

"Gary Bryman was an 8-year-old boy. Two years ago he was killed in a hit and run. The car was described as a black Toyota Camry. But nobody got the plates or saw the driver." He told us.

"Oh my God." Charlie said looking down.

"What?" I asked.

"Jill drove that car." Charlie told us.

"We need to get back to your friend Donna's house." Dean said as I thought I might have been putting the pieces together. At Donna's house we all looked over the back of the mirror with a black light. There was a handprint on it and the words "Linda Shoemaker".

"Linda Shoemaker." I said. We then went downstairs to talk to Donna.

"Did you know how Linda Shoemaker died?" I asked her.

"Why are you asking me this?" She asked us.

"Look, we're sorry, but it's important." Sam told her.

"Yeah. Linda's my mom okay? She overdosed on sleeping pills, it was an accident, and that's it. I think you should leave." She told us.

"Now Donna, just listen." Dean started.

"Get out of my house!" with those words she ran upstairs.

"Oh my God. Do you really think her dad could've killed her mom?" Charlie asked.

"Maybe." Sam told her.

"I think I should stick around." Charlie told us.

"All right. Whatever you do, don't—" Dean started.

"Believe me, I won't say it." She told us. I smiled at her and nodded my head. We decided to go back to the motel to try and find Mary. I put my jacket on my bed and picked up one of the many books I had on spirits. Dean went to the computer and started searching Mary's who had died in front of a mirror.

"Wait, wait, wait, you're doing a nationwide search?" Sam asked Dean,

"Yep. The NCIC, the FBI database—at this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me."

"That sounds like a plan to me." I said getting up and looking over his shoulder.

"But if she's haunting the town, she should have died in the town." Sam told him.

"I'm telling you there's nothing local, I've checked. So unless you got a better idea—"

"The way Mary's choosing her victims, it seems like there's a pattern." I told both boys getting up and pacing a little switching between my book and the computer in front of Dean.

"I know, I was thinking the same thing." Dean told me.

"With Mr. Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run." Sam tried.

"Both had secrets where people died." Dean concluded.

"Right. I mean there's a lot of folklore about mirrors-that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break them." Sam explained.

"Right, right. So maybe if you've got a secret, I mean like a really nasty one where someone died, then Mary sees it, and punishes you for it." I continued the train of thought.

"Whether you're the one that summoned her or not." Sam said.

"Take a look at this." Dean showed us a picture of a woman laying by a mirror in a puddle of blood. Then another picture of a handprint and the letter TRE.

"Looks like the same handprint." Sam told us.

"Her name was Mary Worthington—an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Dean read off to us.

"Looks like we're going to Indiana. Should one of us stay here just in case?" I asked them.

"Sure, you wanna stay or should we get Sammy to do it." Dean joked with us.

"I'll stay and watch things here, you boys go and tell me everything when you get back." I told them and they left.

* * *

When Dean and Sam came back they had Charlie with them and put her on the bed sitting on the bed with her head on her knees as the three of us close all of the curtains, and are throwing sheets over the mirrors, or facing them to the wall or floor.

"Hey, hey it's ok. Hey, you can open up your eyes Charlie. It's okay, all right?" Sam said sitting next to her and she looked up slowly. "Now listen. You're gonna stay right here on this bed, and you're not gonna look at glass, or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you."

"But I can't keep that up forever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?" she asked looking extremely scared.

"No. No. Not anytime soon." Sam comforted her.

"All right Charlie. We need to know what happened." Dean said sitting on her other side.

"We were in the bathroom. Donna said it." Charlie started.

"That's not what we're talking about. Something happened, didn't it? In your life...a secret where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?" I asked bending down in front of her so she could look in my eyes.

"I had this boyfriend. I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said "Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself." And you know what I said? I said "Go ahead." And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just...I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." She puts her face back on her knees and started crying again. I pushed Dean aside and hugged her close, comforting her, knowing what we had to do next. I grabbed my jacket and we left her alone knowing she'd never look at those mirrors until we called and told her it was safe.

"You know her boyfriend killing himself, that's not really Charlie's fault." Dean said.

"You know as well as I do spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Dean. Charlie had a secret, someone died, that's good enough for Mary." Sam told him.

"I guess." Dean said.

"You know, I've been thinking. It might not be enough to just smash that mirror." I told them.

"Why, what do you mean?" Dean asked us.

"Well Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So maybe we should try to pin her down, you know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it." I told them.

"Well how do you know that's going to work?" Dean asked me.

"I don't, not for sure." I told him.

"Well who's gonna summon her?" Dean asked looking at me.

"I will. She'll come after me." Sam said. Just as I was about to say something Dean interrupted me.

"You know what, that's it. He pulled the car over. "This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret that you killed her somehow? SAM, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me—It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place." Dean told him.

"I don't blame you." He told his brother.

"Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done." Dean told him and I started digging through my bag.

"I could've warned her." Sam told him.

"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret, I mean I know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway." I pulled my tazer out and got it ready.

"No you don't." Sam told his brother.

"I don't what?" Dean was getting angrier by the second.

"You don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything." I never let Dean ask his question before I tazed Sam.

"What'd you do that for?" Dean looked at me in shock.

"Unless you want Sam to play bait this was all I could think of." I told him laying Sam down gently.

"How are we going to draw out Mary now?" Dean asked still getting pissed.

"I'll do it." I told him.

"No. I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it." Dean said looking surprised at my comment.

"Dean that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it. And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that? Now we're doing this. You've got to let me do this." I told him. With that said we drove to the shop. When we got there I picked the lock on the door. It opened and we saw a lot of mirrors in the shop.

"Well...that's just great." He pulled out the picture of Mary's dead body to look at the mirror. "All right let's start looking." We split up and walked around the store.

"Maybe they've already sold it." Dean called to me. My flashlight then stopped on the mirror.

"I don't think so." I told him. Dean walked over to me and pulled out the picture to confirm it was the mirror.

"That's it." He sighed. "You sure about this?" I handed Dean the flashlight.  
"Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." I looked at Dean who gave me an unsure look. I could feel the feel the fear on my face. I grabbed the crowbar from Dean. "Bloody Mary." Dean turned to look behind us.

"I'll go check that out. Stay here, be careful." I steadied myself for what was to come. "Smash anything that moves." Dean told me then moved away. I heard someone breathing, so I turned to look at a different mirror

I saw Mary out of the corner of my eye and smashes the mirror with the crowbar. She was in a different one, and I saw her and smashed that mirror too. I was back facing her mirror.

"Come on. Come into this one." I told her. I looked oddly at my reflection, which had taken a mind of its own. I started having trouble breathing and had a trickle of blood coming out of my eyes. I dropped the crowbar and grabbed my hair.

"It's your fault. You killed her. You killed Mom." It said. "You never gave her a chance to survive after you were born." I feel to the ground. "You never gave your parents the chance to be happy! You did that! You allowed the Demon to take her and burn her from the inside out and forced your father to kill her!" Dean's crowbar went through the mirror and he bent down to the floor holding me close.

"Liz! Liz! C'mon baby!" Dean shook me a little.

"Hi Dean." I smiled at little at him.

"God, are you okay?" he asked me, looking scared and relieved at me.

"I'm fine."

"Come on, come on." He pulled me up and put my arm over his neck and we began to walk out. We turned around to see Mary crawling over the broken glass. Mary walked towards them and we both fall to the ground. We both started bleeding from the face, but Dean reached up and pulled over a mirror so that Mary was forced to see her own reflection.

"You killed them! All those people! You killed them!" Mary started choking to death and melted into a pile of blood. Dean threw the mirror down and it shattered.

"Hey Liz?" Dean called.

"Yeah?" I rolled over to look at him.

"This has got to be like...what? 600 years of bad luck?" I started laughing, him joining in not long later.

The next day Charlie sat in the car next to me as we pulled up in front of her house. Sam sat next to his brother pissed at what I had done, and he had every right to be. But he was Sammy, I'd kill anyone and anything to protect him and Dean. Even after what Dean did to me.

"So this is really over?" Charlie asked us.

"Yeah, it's over." Dean answered.

"Thank you." Charlie smiled at the boys and me. I held her hands and smiled back before she got out of the car.

"Charlie?" Sam stopped her. "Your boyfriend's death...you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn't have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen." She smiled faintly at him then turned around to go into her house.

"That's good advice." Dean told his brother. "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Now that this is all over, I want you to tell me what that secret is." Dean told him.

"Look...you're my brother and I'd die for you, but there are some things I need to keep to myself." Sam told him.

"And you, Liz? What secret are you hiding from us?" Dean looked at me through the rearview mirror.

"Don't worry about it, Dean. Everything will be fine." I looked out the window and wondered where this job would lead us next.


	2. Skin

Sam, Dean and I pulled into a gas station on our way to our next job site.

"Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." he looked next to him to see Sam on his Palm Pilot not paying attention to him. "Sam wears women's underwear."

"Dean!" I hit him in the arm and he rubbed the area.

"I've been listenin', I'm just busy." Sam told us with a smile on his face.

"Busy doin' what?" Dean asked.

"Reading e-mails." Sam told him. Dean got out of the car leaving the door open.

"E-mails from who?" I asked him.

"From my friends at Stanford." Sam told me.

"You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" Dean asked him, filling up the car.

"Why not?" Sam asked looking at his older brother.

"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?" Dean asked.

"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother and an old friend. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess." Sam told us.

"Oh, so you lie to 'em." I gave Dean a look to try and shut him up.

"No. I just don't tell 'em….everything." Sam told him.

"Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse." Dean told him speaking like he knew from experience.

"So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" Dean just shrugged at his brother. "You're serious?" Sam asked him.

"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period." Dean told him

"You're kind of anti-social, you know that?" I told him.

"Yeah, whatever." Sam continued to read his e-mails and I went back to the book I had started reading.

"God…." I looked up at Sam.

"What?" I asked.

"In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine."

"Is she hot?" I glared at Dean but Sam ignored him.

"I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." Sam told us.

"Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?" Dean asked getting back into the car.

:No, man, I know Zack. He's no killer." Sam swore to us.

"Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." Dean joked with him.

"They're in St. Louis. We're goin'." Dean chuckled at his brother.

"Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." Dean explained.

It is our problem. They're my friends."

"Dean there's no harm in just checking it out." I said putting my book down next to me.

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us." We all exchanged a look and a minute later we were pulling out going back to St. Louis. I just smiled as I read not noticing Dean watching me in the rear view mirror, smiling.

* * *

When we got to Rebecca's house Sam knocked on the door.

"Oh my God, Sam!" she said smiling at the taller man.

"Well, if it isn't little Becky." He said smiling back at her.

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." They gave each other a huge hug. (She smiles and they hug.)

"I got your e-mail." Sam said releasing her.

"I didn't think that you would come here." she told him. Dean choose that moment to step forward and extend his hand to her.

"Dean. Older brother." She shook his hand. she looked to me.

"Liz Singer, just a friend of Sams." She shook my hand with a smile still on her face.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"We're here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam told her.

"Come in." We all walked inside and Dean, being the last one in, shut the door.

"Nice place." Dean complimented her, looking around.

"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free." she told us.

"Where are your folks?" Sam asked her worriedly.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." We followed her into the kitchen. "Do you guys want a beer or something?" She asked leaning on the island.

"Hey—" Dean started smiling but never got to finished.

"No, thanks. So, tell us what happened." Sam interrupted.

"Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." She started crying. "So, he called 911, and the police—they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police—they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight." She finished explaining to us.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house." Sam suggested. She gave us a look.

"We could." I tried to reassure her.

"Why? I mean, what could you do?" she asked looking at all of us.

"Well, me and Liz, not much. But Dean's a cop." Sam lied to her and Dean laughed.

"Detective, actually." He told her smirking slightly.

"Really?" Dean nodded to her question. "Where?"

"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off-duty now." he told her and I nearly started laughing at him.

"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just—I don't know." she said looking down slightly.

"Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." she paused for a minute then nodded.

"Okay. I'm gonna go get the keys." She walked down the hall.

"Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends." Dean mocked Sam.

"Look, Zack and Becky need our help." Sam told him.

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem." Dean told us, trying to convince us to leave.

"Two places at once? We've looked into less." Dean knew he was defeated but still looked at me as though asking me to help.

"I'm with Sam on this one." Dean just nodded his head.

* * *

"You're sure this is okay?" Rebecca asked Dean once more as we walked up to the house.

"Yeah. I am an officer of the law." He told her as we walked into the house under the yellow tape. The three of us entered the house and looked around. The furniture and walls of the house are smeared with blood.

"Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asked her.

"No, I wanna help." She ducked under the police tape and entered the house with us.

"Tell us what else the police said." Sam told her as we continued to look around.

"Well, there's no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers—they're already talking about plea bargain." She looked around the room and started crying. "Oh, God…."

"Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" Rebecca shook her head then stopped as though she was remembering something.

"Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zack's clothes. The police—they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." Sam walked away form us and Dean moved to the open front door and watched as the neighbors dog barked loudly at the house. I watched as Rebecca moved behind him. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog."

"What happened?" I asked.

"He just changed." she told me, watching the dog.

"Do you remember when he changed?" I asked again, pressing for more information.

"I guess around the time of the murder." Dean looked at me and we walked to Sam. Sam was looking at a framed picture of himself, Zack, and Rebecca when we got to him.

"So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed." Dean told him.

"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." I told them.

"Yeah, maybe Fido saw somethin'." Dean suggested.

"So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?" Sam asked him.

"No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure." Dean told us. I smiled knowing he now thought it was our kind of problem.

"Yeah." Sam said looking away from the picture to us.

"Yeah." Dean said as Rebecca walked over to us. "So, the tape. The security footage—you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction."

"I've already got it. I didn't wanna say something in front of the cop." Dean laughed at that thought. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself." She told us.

"All right." With that said we all left the house and went back to hers.

* * *

We sat in the living room watching the footage.

"Here he comes." she said as the tape showed Zack entering his house.

"22:04, that's just after ten. You said time of death was about 10:30." Dean looked at her and I rewound the tape and watched it again.

"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." She told us.

"Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?" Sam asked her.

"Oh, sure." she said and got up to get them.

"Hey." She turned to him. "Maybe some sandwiches, too?" Sam suggested to her.

"What do you think this is, Hooters?" She asked smiling as she left the room.

"What is it?" Dean asked walking to Sam.

"Check this out." I tossed him the remote and he rewound the tape then replayed it. One of the frames showed Zack looking directly at the camera, his eyes silver. Sam paused the tape at that moment.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean suggested.

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." I told him.

"Right."

"Remember that dog that was freakin' out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him. Like a Doppelganger." I suggested to the boys.

"Yeah. It'd sure explain how he was two places at once." Sam agreed. We stayed a little longer and talked to Rebecca about the case, finding out what all we would need to know. That night we wen't back to the motel and did some light digging about what it this creature could be.

* * *

The next morning, Sam, Dean and I parked the car behind Zack's house and got out.

"Alright, so what are we doin' here at 5:30 in the morning?" Dean asked leaning against the impala with his coffee.

"I realized something. The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out." Sam told us while I leaned on the car and Dean.

"So, he came out the back door?" Dean asked Sam, putting his arm around me.

"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue." Sam told us.

"'Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doin' here at 5:30 in the morning." I watched Sam look around the outside of the building.

"Blood. Somebody came this way." he said pointing to a telephone pole.

"Yeah, but the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." An ambulance drove past us and we all exchanged a look.

* * *

We followed the ambulance to a house and observed the scene. An Asian man was handcuffed and stepping into a police car.

"What happened?" Dean asked to a woman next to us.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her." she told us.

"Really?" we all looked at each other.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy." We watched as the man was taken by the police. A little later, Sam and I were on the side of the house, looking around. He looked inside two garbage cans but found nothing. I walked along the side of the house until I was in the front when Sam and Dean came up behind me.

"Hey." I turned to them. "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean asked us.

"Yeah."

"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean admitted.

"What'd you find out?" I asked him.

"Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." He told us.

"So, he was two places at once." Sam said.

"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob." Dean told us.

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam said, thinking.

"Could be the same thing doin' it, too." Dean suggested.

"Shapeshifter?" I suggested and Dean shrugged. "Something that can make itself look like anyone? Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men." I told them.

"Right, skinwalkers, werewolves." Sam suggested two different kinds.

"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowlin' the neighborhood." Dean told us.

"Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Sam asked us.

"Not that I know of." I told him.

"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way." Sam told us.

"Just like your friend's house." Dean pointed out.

"Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared." Sam told us.

"Well, there's another way to go—down." We all looked down and noticed a manhole.

"You've got to be kidding me." I said looking at it with disgust.

* * *

We climbed down into the sewer and looked around.

"I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Sam told us.

"I think you're right. Look at this." We bent down and examined a pile of blood and skin on the ground.

"That's disgusting." I told the both of them.

"Is this from his victims?" Sam asked as Dean pulled out his pocketknife. He stuck it into the pile of goo and held up some of it.

"You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds." he said, dropping it off his knife as much as possible.

"That is sick." Sam agreed as we stood up to leave.

* * *

When we got to the car, Dean opened the trunk and took out some weapons.

"Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it."

"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam finished.

"That's right." I said as Sam's phone rang.

"This is Sam." He answered. "We're near Zack's, we're just checkin' some things out. What are you talkin' about? Why would you do that? Bec— We're tryin' to help. Bec, I'm sorry, but—" he removed his phone from his ear and closed is. Dean and I walked up to him.

"I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just—it'd be easier if—"

"If I was like you." Sam asked, inturrupting him.

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain't without perks." He held a gun to Sam. Sam took it and put in the back of his jeans and we walked away.

* * *

We went back to the sewer and looked around with our flashlights and guns.

"I think we're close to its lair." Dean told us.

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked him.

"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face." Sam turned and saw another pile of blood and skin on a pipe next to his ear.

"Oh, God!" Sam quickly moved away from it, disgusted. We continued looking around the area and saw a pile of clothes in a corner.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while." I told them.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam turned and looked in shock behind us. "Dean! Liz!" We turned and Dean, being closer to the shifter, got punched. He fell to the ground and the shapeshifter ran away with Sam and I shooting at it. I ran to Dean when I could no longer see it.

"Get the son of a bitch!" We ran after the shifter.

* * *

We crawled out of the manhole looking around for the shifter.

"All right, let's split up." Sam told us.

"All right, I'll meet you two around the other side." I nodded at him.

"All right." I went with Sam since there were only two ways to go. We searched keeping our guns out of sight of the civilians. After we got to a middle area we waited for Dean to meet us.

"Hey." Sam and I turned to him as we walked up to us. "Anything?" He asked.

"No. He's gone." Sam told him.

"All right, let's get back to the car." We all crossed the street going to the car.

"You think he found another way underground?" I asked them, watching Dean closely. Something wasn't right.

"Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" Sam stopped and tossed him the keys. Dean caught them in his left hand, lift his injured arm making me stop and thought about it before turning around.

"Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" Sam asked him. Dean thought about it for a while.

"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?" Dean reminded us.

"Oh, right." We walked to the other side of the car and slowly pulled out our guns. "Don't move!" Dean turned and saw us pointing our guns at him. "What have you done with him?" Sam asked him.

"Dude, chill. It's me, all right?" "Dean" told us.

"No, I don't think so. Where's Dean?" I questioned having to stop myself from shooting him right here.

"You're about to shoot him. Sam, Liz, calm down." The shifter tried convincing us.

"You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt." I told the shifter.

"Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do, cry?" he asked.

"You're not my brother." Sam told him.

"Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me. Come on, Liz." I looked down.

"Don't." I looked up long enough to see a crowbar his Sam twice before hitting me in the head, making me fall to the ground. I was hit again making my world grow black.

* * *

I woke groaning in pain. I looked to try and find out where I was and only saw a dingy, dusty room. My neck and hands were bound to a wooden post across from Sam. The shapeshifter walked over to him and backhanded him making him groan in pain.

"Where is he? Where's Dean?" I asked him.

"I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about you." the shifter told me.

"Where is he?" I yelled at him.

"You don't really wanna know." He looked to me and chuckled. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family and Liz—I thought I came from a bad background." I looked at him confused.

"What do you mean, learn?" The shifter stopped and grabbed his head in pain. I watched the shifter, confused. The shapeshifter relaxed and looked at us.

"He's sure got issues with you, Sammy. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you? And Liz? I know I hurt you, but that doesn't mean you have to ignore me forever. I've tried apologizing to you, but you'll have none of it. What more can I do to seek forgiveness from you?" he asked looking between the two of us. "Sammy get's to be all chummy you while I suffer in silence." He got real close to my face.

"Where is my brother?" The shifter looked at Sam.

"I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You got Liz. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me, just like she did." he said looking back at me.

"What are you talkin' about?" I asked.

"You left. Sam left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin', just poof. Left me with Sam's sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks." He picked himself up and laughed. "I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. But he's too worried about what sweet Lizzy thinks about him. Let's see what happens." He smiled and covered Sam and I in sheets. I tried getting out of my ropes and felt my wrists bleed, but I wouldn't give up until I was free.

"Damn it." I heard Sam say. Then I heard movement in another area of the room and someone coughing from that same area.

"That better be you guys, and not that freak of nature." I laughed, relieved to hear from the real Dean again.

"Yeah, it's us. I heard him rustling as he managed to pull the sheet off himself. "He went to Rebecca's, lookin' like you." Sam told him.

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." I laughed at Sam's confused look and Dean's words and continued to work through my ropes.

"Yeah, that's the thing. He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you." Dean got up and walked to us.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked and started untying my ropes.

"I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories." Sam told him.

"You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?" Dean asked again, giving us a look.

"Yeah, somethin' like that. I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us." I suggested as Dean walked over to Sam.

"Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection." Sam finished the thought as Dean untied his ropes.

"Hands. Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He's probably at Rebecca's already." We all left the room the shifter had left us in.

* * *

We climbed out the window of the building we had crawled into from the manhole.

"Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police." Sam said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're gonna put an APB out on me." Dean and I looked at him in shock. Sam just shrugged at us.

"Sorry."

"This way." We all started running down the street to a phone.

* * *

Later we stood in front of a store window, watching a news report that was being shown on a display of televisions.

"An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." a sketch of Dean appeared on the screens.

"Man! That's not even a good picture." Dean said criticizing the sketch of himself. Sam and I looked around cautiously, now people would be looking for him. It wasn't safe out in public like this.

"It's good enough." Sam and I walked away from the screens.

"Man!" Dean said as he followed us.

* * *

"Come on." Sam said as we walked into an ally. Dean stepped in a puddle as we walked along the road."They said attempted murder. At least we know—"

"I didn't kill her." Dean finished for him.

"We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's all right." Sam told us.

"All right, but first I wanna find that devil and kick the holy crap out of him." I told them. We stopped walking at that point.

"We have no weapons. No silver bullets." Sam reminded us.

"Sam, the guy's walkin' around with my face, okay, it's a little personal, I wanna find him." I nodded in agreement with Dean for once.

"Okay. Where do we look?" Sam asked us.

"Well, we could start with the sewers." Dean suggested.

"We have no weapons. He stole our guns, we need more." I told them thinking of anything and everything. "The car?" I suggested.

"I'm bettin' he drove over to Rebecca's." Dean said.

"The news said he fled on foot. I bet it's still parked there." Sam told us.

"The thought of him drivin' my car." Dean said, getting even more irritated with the shifter.

"All right, come on." Sam said pulling Dean slightly.

"It's killin' me." Dean told us.

"Let it go." I told him.

* * *

We walked around the side of the house and saw Dean's car parked there.

"Oh, there she is! Finally, something went right tonight." a police car appeared and parked next to Deans car. "Oh, crap." we turned around to run, but another police car was parked a few yards away. "This way, this way." He pulled us towards the fence.

"You go. I'll hold 'em off." Sam told him.

"I'll stay with Sam, give you more time to run." I told him pushing him away.

"Liz!" I pulled him close to me and kissed him. "Run." I told him when we broke apart.

"What are you talking about? They'll catch you." Dean told him, trying to pull me with him.

"Look, they can't hold me. Just go, keep out of sight. Meet us at Rebecca's." Sam said and we started to climb over the fence. "Dean." Dean stopped and turned to us."Stay out of the sewers alone." Dean said nothing and hopped over the fence. "I mean it!" Sam called to him.

"Yeah, yeah!" He called to us.

"Don't move! Keep your hands where I can see 'em." Sam and I raised our hands in the air.

* * *

Later that night, after the Sam and I were sitting, having a bear and talking with her about the shifter.

"So, say this shapeshifter is real. By the way, you know you're crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" She gave Sam and I a new bear and we gave her our old ones.

"Thanks." I told her. "Silver bullet to the heart." she chuckled at what I told her.

"You are crazy." I then felt myself being hit and I heard glass breaking as I blacked out.

* * *

When I woke the shapeshifter had changed back into Dean. He was finished tying up Sam's hands and feet, then walked around to the kitchen.

"What are you gonna do to us?" I asked noticing Sam was still unconscious.

"Oh, I'm not gonna do anything. Dean will, though." He smirked at me.

"They'll never catch him." I told him as Sam started stirring.

"Oh, doesn't matter. Murder in the first of his brother and girlfriend? He'll be hunted the rest of his life." I watched him pick up and knife and examine it.

"I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do." he poured himself a drink and raised it to me. "Cheers." He took a drink then picked up the knife from the kitchen and stock if in the edge of the pool table. I kicked the shifter towards Sam and he kicked the shifters legs out from under him. I quickly sat up and moved to cut the rope from my hands. After the rope broke I got the knife and ran to Sam and cut him loose. The shifter got up behind me and I turned and swung at him. The shifter grabbed my arm mid-swing and twisted it making me fall to the ground. "Oh, you son of a bitch." Sam came up behind him and pulled me away from him. He and Sam then started to fight. "Not bad, little brother." he told Sam when Sam tried to pin him.

"You're not him." Sam told him as the continued to fight. The shifter threw Sam into a bookshelf and the books fall on him.

"Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass." I grabbed the knife once more as he grabbed a pool cue and swung it at me. I dodged him and he hit a light fixture. He managed to hit my hand after a while making me drop the knife on the ground. The shifter then pinned me to the ground and started trying to choke me. "This brings back memories doesn't it, babe?" I headbutted him and switched our positions.

"Not with you, shifter."

"Hey!" The shifter and I looked to see Dean and he tossed me a gun. I put the gun close to his chest and shoot him twice in the heart. Rebecca and Sam came in at that moment and I looked up, covered in the shifter's blood.

"Oh my God!" Dean walked to me and the shifter's body and looked down at us. I looked down at him and saw him wearing Dean's necklace. I yanked it from around the shifter's neck and nods knowingly at me then the other two.

* * *

The next day Dean and I were standing next to the car. Dean was reading a map while I just stood next to him, thinking. After they were done talking Rebecca nodded and waved goodbye to us. We waved back, and she went back inside the house. Sam then joined us at the car.

"So, what about your friend, Zack?"

"Cops are blamin' this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says Zack will be released soon." Sam smiled at us and Dean rolled his eyes and we got into the car.

"Sorry, man." I looked at Dean in slight shock. He didn't apologize unless I forced him.

"About what?" Sam asked.

"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be….Joe College." Dean told him.

"No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." Sam told us.

"Well, that's 'cause you're a freak." Dean said smiling at him.

"Yeah, thanks." Sam laughed.

"Well, I'm a freak, too. I'm right there with ya, all the way." Dean told him.

"Here, here. That's the three of us, the Three Musketeers. Together to the end." I put my hands on their shoulders.

"Yeah, you know we are." The boys laughed at me.

"You know, I gotta say—I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it." Dean told us.

"Miss what?" Sam asked.

"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?" I laughed at him as we continued to drive.


	3. Hook Man

Sam, Dean and I were at an outdoor café. Dean and I were at the table waiting on Sam who was on a payphone. He finally hung up and walked back to us.

"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis." Dean told him.

"Bite me." Sam told him sitting down.

"So, anything?" I asked him. Sam shook his head at us.

"I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations." Sam told us.

"Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." Dean told him. Sam looked disappointed. "Check this out." He turned the computer and showed Sam an article on the computer. "It's a news item out of Planes Courier. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here." Dean told us.

""The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road."" Sam read.

"Keep reading." Dean told him.

""Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible."" Sam continued.

"Could be something interesting." I told them.

"Or it could be nothing at all. One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." Sam told us.

"But what if it is? Dad would check it out." Dean told him, making up his mind.

* * *

The boys had dropped me off at a motel before going to a frat house. When they came back they told me we were going to a church. when we arrived and entered the door slammed behind us. the congregation went silent and turn to look at us before paying attention to the pastor.

* * *

"As a community, and as a family. The loss of a young person is particularly tragic. A life unlived is the saddest of passings." the pastor preached. we sat down in the back with a girl staring at us. Sam smiled to her and she turned away. "So, please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children." Everyone bowed their head in prayer, except Dean. SAM elbowed him, and when Dean noticed everyone else lowering their heads he did the same.

* * *

After mass ended, Sam, Dean and I walked up to the girl who'd been watching him.

"Are you Lori?" he asked her.

"Yeah."

"My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean and our friend Liz." Sam introduced us. "We just transferred here to the university."

"I saw you inside." she told us.

"We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..." Sam broke off.

"We wanted to say how sorry we were." I finished for him.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I-I saw someone..get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Lori nodded at Sam, feeling his pain. At that moment the reverend walked up to us.

"Dad, um, this is Sam, Liz and Dean. Sam and Dean are new students." she introduced us and Dean shook the reverend's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon." Dean lied to him.

"Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message." Dean chuckled at his words but he and I walked closer to him, pulling him away.

"Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually. And, uh, we were looking for a, um, a church group." Dean told him as I followed.

"We have many church groups for young adults as well as college students." he told us.

"We all grew up together so we're more like family than just friends. If we could find a group so that we could all worship together, I know I would feel safer going home at night." I said trying to buy time for Sam to talk to Lori.

"I'll get some information for you and give it to you next week after the service." we walked back to Lori and Sam and said our thank yous and good-byes.

* * *

We walked through the library talking about what Sam and Lori had talked about.

"So you believe her?" Dean asked him.

"I do." Sam answered.

"Yeah, and the fact that she's hot made no difference." Dean told him.

"No, man, there's something in her eyes. And listen to this: she heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." Sam said, reminding us of what Lori told him.

"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the—"

"Yeah, I know, the Hook Man legend." Sam said interrupting me. We stopped walking and continued our conversation.

"That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man." Dean said as we continued talking.

"Every urban legend has a source. A place where it all began." I reminded him. I was a lot like my father when it came to the knowledge of everything we had to fight.

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" Dean asked us.

"Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all. What if it's some kind of spirit?" Sam asked and walked away to a woman who

* * *

We were sitting at a table in the library when the librarian placed a few big boxes in front of us.

"Here you go. Arrest records going back to 1851." She said placing the boxes above us. Dean blew off some dust from the box in front of him and coughed.

"Thanks." he said smiling sarcastically at her.

"Ok." she nodded to us and walked away.

"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" Dean asked as I opened one of the boxes.

"Welcome to higher education."

* * *

"Hey, check this out. 1862. A preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red light district in town that one night he killed 13 prostitutes. Uh, right here, "some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh."" Sam read to us hours later.

"Get this, the murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook." Dean said looking at another page.

"Look where all this happened." I said bringing another page to them.

"9 Mile Road." Dean read.

"Same place where the frat boy was killed." I said smiling at him.

"Nice job, Dr. Venkmen. Let's check it out." Dean and I walked out while Sam gathered all the research.

* * *

We drove up 9 mile road and got out of the car. Dean then opened the trunk and handed me a rifle.

"Here you go." he said handing me the rock salt.

"If it is a spirit, buckshot won't do much good." Sam told him, reminding me that he hadn't been in the field for the last few years.

"Yeah, rock salt." I said handing the loaded rifle to Sam.

"Huh. Salt being a spirit deterrent." Sam said examining it. Dean took out a coil of rope and shut the trunk as I made sure my gun was ready.

"Yeah. It won't kill 'em. But it'll slow 'em down." I said was we walked towards the trees.

"That's pretty good. You and Dad think of this?" Sam asked his brother.

"I told you. You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." We heard a noise among the trees and stopped walking and I raised my gun.

"Over there. Over there." Dean whispered and Sam aimed the gun and cocked it. We saw a figure come out of the trees who turned out to be the sheriff.

"Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head." We did as he said, slowly.

"W-w-wait, okay, okay!" Dean called out to him.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees!" We obeyed his orders and got on our knees. "Now get down on your bellies. Come on, do it!"

"He had the gun!" Dean said as we laid down.

* * *

The next day Dean had managed to say something to get us out of trouble.

"Saved your asses! Talked the sheriff down to a fine. Dude, I am Matlock." Dean said, praising himself.

"But how?" Sam asked him.

"I told him you were a dumbass pledge and that we were hazing you." Dean told him.

"And me?" I asked him. I wouldn't pass for frat, I wasn't a guy.

"Hot chick I wanted to impress. How'd I do?" He asked me with a flirtatious smirk on his face.

"What about the shotgun?" Sam asked him.

"I said that you were hunting ghosts and the spirits were repelled by rock salt. You know, typical Hell Week prank." Dean told him, looking away from me.

"And he believed you?" Sam asked him.

""Well, you look like a dumbass pledge and Liz is hot." He said making me smile. Seconds later, several cops ran out of the building and speed away in squad cars and the three of us exchanged a look.

* * *

We drove by Lori's sorority building and saw her wrapped in a blanket, sitting in the back of the ambulance. Dean parked the car on another street and walked around the back of the sorority house.

"Why would the Hook Man come here? This is a long way from 9 Mile Road." Sam told us.

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime. Maybe it's about something else." I said as two sorority girls came out the side entrance. We leaned against the side of the house next to some bushes to hide ourselves. I turned around and saw Sam trying to climb onto the balcony of the house. Dean helped him up, then he helped me and then climbed up himself. Once we were up there, we crept inside Lori's window. Dean nearly fell on top of me when he came in through the window.

"Sorry." I just shook my head, meaning it was fine and no harm had been.

"Be quiet." Sam told him.

"You be quiet!" Dean retaliated.

"You be quiet!" Sam argued back.

"Will you both shut up!" I whispered to them passing them both up. I pushed them into the walk in closet and we waited there until the cops left the room. Once they were gone and we'd entered Lori's bedroom, we saw the writing on the wall.

""Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" That's right out of the legend." Sam pointed out to us.

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man all right." Dean said tapping his nose. "It's definitely a spirit."

"Yeah, I've never smelled ozone this strong before." I said as Dean moved to the window. "Hey, come over here." Sam and Dean walked over to me and I pointed to a cross symbol beneath the writing. "Does that look familiar to you?" I asked them.

* * *

We stood next to the car looking at a picture of the cross symbol that we found during our research.

"It's the same symbol. Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns." I told them looking at the two of them on either side of me.

"All right, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down." Dean said.

""After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave."" Sam read aloud and I groaned in annoyance.

"Super." Dean said.

"Ok. So we know it's Jacob Karns. But we still don't know where he'll manifest next. Or why." I told them.

"I'll take a wild guess about why. I think your little friend Lori has something to do with this." He said as we got into the car.

* * *

When we got to the college a college party was in full swing.

"Man, you've been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!" Dean told Sam.

"This wasn't really my experience." Sam told him.

"Let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A's?" I asked him and he nodded.

"What a geek. Alright, you do your homework?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah. It was bugging me, right? So how is the Hook Man tied up with Lori? So I think I came up with something." Sam told us as he unraveled a piece of paper and gave it to us.

"1932. Clergyman arrested for murder. 1967. Seminarian held in hippie rampage." Dean said skimming the papers.

"There's a pattern here. In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings carried out—get this—with a sharp instrument." Sam told us.

"What's the connection to Lori?" I asked him.

"A man of religion? Who openly preaches against immorality?" I suddenly understood where he was going with it. "Except maybe this time, instead of saving the whole town, he's just trying to save his only daughter." Sam finished.

"Reverend Sorensen. You think he's summoning the spirit?" Dean asked him.

"Maybe. Or, you know how a poltergeist can haunt a person instead of a place?" Sam asked us.

"Yeah, the spirit latches onto the reverend's repressed emotions, feeds off them, yeah, okay." I said.

"Without the reverend ever even knowing it." Sam finished.

"Either way, you should keep an eye on Lori tonight." Dean told Sam and he nodded at the suggestion.

"What about you two?" Sam asked us.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find that unmarked grave." He told Sam.

"As am I." I said smiling at the man that I shared an important secret with.

* * *

We walked through the cemetery looking around with a couple flashlights. We looked at all the graves but this was a hard man to pin down I guess.

"Over here." he called to me and I walked to him and saw the symbol on a headstone. "Here we go." Dean then started digging and kept at it for a while. "That's it. Next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house. Why don't you help me?" He asked me as I stood above him.

"My father taught me properly. Men dig the graves and the women shoot the monsters better." I joked with him as the broke through the wooden floor of the grave and showed off Karns' remains.

"Hello, preacher." He said tossing me the shovel. I gave him the items we needed. He poured the salt on the bones first then the lighter fluid. I lit a match and threw it on the bones.

"Goodbye, preacher." he said as we watched the bones burn to ash. I text Sam to ask where he was and when I got the reply I pulled Dean with me to the car.

"We've got to go, Sam's at the hospital."

* * *

When we got to the hospital there were two cops down the hall blocking us from Sam who was standing outside a room.

"No, it's alright, I'm with him. He's my brother." Dean told the officer then looked to Sam. "Hey! Brother!"Sam and the sheriff turned to see us and I waved at them. I saw Sam nod to the sheriff he was with and he waved us through.

"Let them through." They let us through and we walked over to Sam.

"Thanks." Dean said as he passed them. the sheriff walked away from Sam and he met us in the middle of the hall. "You ok?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah." Sam answered him. We made sure no one was listening as we started talking about the case.

"What the hell happened?"Dean asked him.

"Hook Man." Sam answered simply. But we burned his bones? How could he still be wandering around?

"You saw him?" Dean asked him as those thoughts plagued my mind.

"Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?" Sam asked us.

"What are you talking about, we did. You sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" Dean asked him.

"It sure as hell looked like him. And that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the reverend." Sam told us.

"Well, yeah, the guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself." Dean told him obviously.

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman." Sam told us like we should know what that would mean. Neither of us did the church scene just like neither of us did the school scene.

"So what?" I asked, that was just another day for some men and women in our line of work.

"So she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished." He told us and it made more sense to me.

"Ok, so she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her." I suggested.

"Right. Rich comes on too strong, Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair." Dean listed off. "Remind me not to piss this girl off. But I burned those bones, I buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?" Dean asked us.

"You must have missed something." Sam told him.

"No. I burned everything in that coffin." Dean told him.

"Did you check for the hook?" I asked him, he was closer to it so he could have seen something I'd missed.

"The hook?" he asked me.

"Well, it was the murder weapon, and in a way, it was part of him." I reminded him.

"So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power." Dean concluded.

"So if we find the hook..." Sam started.

"We stop the Hook Man." Dean and I said together and we smiled at each other.

* * *

We went back to the library and searched for where his hook might have gone to.

"Here's something, I think. Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. "Karns, Jacob. Personal affects: disposition thereof."" Dean read.

"Does it mention the hook?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah, maybe. "Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church."" Dean read on.

"Isn't that where Lori's father preaches?" I asked him.

"Yeah." Dean answered.

"Where Lori lives?" I asked again, drawing all the lines together.

"Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverends' daughters for the past 200 years." Sam suggested.

"Yeah, but if the hook were at the church or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?" Dean asked raising his eyebrows.

"Check the church records." I told Sam and he went to get them. We searched for what felt like hours until we finally found what we were looking for.

""St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged." They melted it down. Made it into something else." Sam told us.

* * *

We parked the car out in front of the church and got out.

"Alright, we can't take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire." Dean said.

"I agree. So, Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in." Sam told us.

"Alright, take your pick." I told them letting them pick from the church or house to search.

"I'll take the house." Sam told us.

"Ok. That leaves us with the church. I'll check the basement and you get the upper area." I said as Sam made his way to the church.

"Hey." Sam turned at his brothers voice. "Stay out of her underwear drawer." Dean joked with him and Sam walked away.

* * *

When I got to the basement I didn't find much silver but I'd found the perfect place for us to get rid of it. I let the fire in the furnace and threw in some salt. I started throwing everything I'd found that was silver when Dean joined me. Sam came down soon after with a bag of things from the house.

"I got everything that even looked silver." He told us.

"Better safe than sorry." Dean said as we threw everything we'd found into the fire. Suddenly, we heard footsteps above us. "Move, move." Dean said taking out his gun as we all went upstairs. When we went upstairs we saw Lori sitting alone in a pew, crying. Dean lowered his gun and he and I went back downstairs while Sam went to talk to her.

"Liz?" Dean said, starting a conversation.

"Yes?"

"Would you ever be able to forgive me for what I did?" he asked me. I'd forgiving him some time ago but I couldn't forgive myself for what I'd done to him.

"It's not you that needs forgiving right now, Dean. I've kept something from you." I told him avoiding eye contact.

"What?" he asked me.

"I don't know if you're ready to hear it and I don't know if I'm ready to tell you." I told him.

"I deserve to know, Liz." He told me and I smiled at him.

"I know you do, but I need to be absolutely positive that this secret will be safe. I have to protect it." I told him.

"What's so important to you that you can't tell me?" he asked me and I looked away again.

"Dean..."

"Liz? What is it? What are you hiding from me?" Dean asked me but I never got a chance to answer when we heard the door to the basement slam shut.

"Go!" I heard Sam shout and we ran to help him. When we found him and Lori he was standing in front of the Hook Man and Dean raised his gun.

"Sam, drop!" Sam crouched down and Dean shot the Hook Man once and he disappeared into dust.

"I thought we got all the silver." Sam told us.

"So did we." I told him.

"Then why is he still here?" Dean asked.

"Well, maybe we missed something!" I said and we looked around for the Hook Man and any silver we might have missed.

"Lori, where did you get that chain?" I looked to the necklace around her neck, silver.

"My father gave it to me." She told us.

"Where'd your dad get it?" Dean asked him.

"He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school." She answered.

"Is it silver?!" I shouted at her.

"Yes!" She shouted back and Sam ripped the chain off from around her neck and tossed it to me. Behind me, in the hallway, a long scratch was appearing on the wall and Dean and I turned to look at it.

Dean threw Sam and rifle and the rock salt while I ran back downstairs. Shots were heard as I made my way to the furnace. When I got the the furnace I threw the necklace into the fire as Dean joined me. In the fire, the cross pendant brook off the chain and melted. Dean and I ran back upstairs to make sure the Hook Man was really gone this time. We walked over to Sam and Lori and gave them a knowing look. Dean put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned into him.

* * *

The next morning we were all being questioned by the cops. Dean hadn't let me leave his sight the entire time and I was in no hurry to run from the comfort of his side.

"And you saw him, too? The man with the hook?" The cop asked us. I was playing the freaked out girlfriend so I didn't have to answer anything.

"Yes, I told you, we all saw him. We fought him off and then he ran." Dean told him.

"And that's all?" The cop asked clarifying his statement.

"Yeah, that's all." Dean confirmed for him.

"Listen. You, your girlfriend and your brother—"

"Oh, don't worry, we're leaving town." Dean interrupted him and we walked over to the car. We sat in the car waiting for Sam to get in so we could go. After their conversation Sam walked to the car and got in.

"We could stay." Dean offered but Sam shook his head and we left.


	4. Bugs

**I want to thank everyone who read, favorite and are following this story. Thank you again and don't forget to tell me what you think of it.**

**Sanura Bey**

* * *

Sam and I sat outside a bar as Dean earned some money. Sam was reading the obits in a newspaper. Dean finally came out laughing and waving a wad of cash in the air at us.

"You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." Sam suggested and I gave him a look. Who would want that?

"Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap." Dean explained to him.

"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean." Sam told him.

"Well, let's see honest." I held out a hand representing honesty. "Fun and easy." I held out my other hand and gestured that fun and easy out weighed honesty. "It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do." I told him.

"Yeah, well, how we were all raised was jacked." He told us.

"Yeah, says you. We got a new gig or what?" Dean asked him.

"Maybe. Oasis Plains, Oklahoma - not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." Sam told us.

"Huh?" Dean asked as we both gave him a look.

"Human mad cow disease." Sam translated for us.

"Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?" I raised my eyebrow at Dean.

"You watch Oprah?" I asked him smiling. He opened his mouth then shut it quickly embarrassed by his words.

"So this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?" I smiled at Dean and looked to Sam.

"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less." Sam told us and I made a face picturing it happen.

"Okay, that's weird." I told them.

"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be somethin' much nastier." Sam told us.

"All right. Oklahoma." Dean said and we jumped into the car. "Man. Work, work, work. No time to spend my money." Dean joked and I laughed as we drove off.

* * *

EXT OKLAHOMA GAS AND POWER COMPANY BUILDING - DAY

Sam, Dean and I got out of the car and approached a man going into a gas and power company building.

"Travis Weaver?" I asked as we walked up to him.

"Yeah, that's right." He told us eyeing us skeptically.

"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked us going with the story we'd come up.

"Dustin never mentioned nephews or a niece." Travis told us.

"Oh, I'm just a girlfriend. Not family." I told him smiling.

He sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest." Dean told him.

"Yeah." Sam agreed with his brother.

"Oh, he did? Huh." Travis asked us smiling.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you... what exactly happened out there?" Dean asked him.

"I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back..." He broke off not wanting to give any more details about his friend.

"What did you see?" Dean asked again trying to get as many details as possible.

"Nothin'. Just Dustin." Travis told us.

"No wounds or anything?" Sam asked him.

"Well, he was bleeding... from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it." He said. No open wounds but he was bleeding.

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. That's what the doctors are sayin'." He told us.

"But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Sam asked him revealing the research that he'd done on the way here.

"No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?" Travis asked us.

"That's a good question." Dean said looking down at me.

"You know, can you tell us where this happened?" Sam asked him so we could were check it out.

"Yeah."

* * *

A while later, we arrived at the scene of Dustin's death. The sinkhole he'd fallen into was surrounded by police tape.

"Huh. What do you think?" I asked them looking at the sinkhole.

"I don't know. But if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast." Sam told us. We ducked under the tape so we could look in the hole better with our flashlights.

"So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Dean asked us.

"No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this thing worked from the inside." Sam told him as we inspected what we could see of the hole.

"Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. You wanna flip a coin?" Dean asked looking at us.

"Dean, we have no idea what's down there." I told him. Dean picked up a nearby coil of rope and smiled at us.

"All right, I'll go if you're scared. You scared?" Dean asked smirking at us.

"Flip the damn coin." Sam told him stepping up to his rise. I just shook my head and smiled at them. Dean chuckled and took a coin out of his pocket.

"All right, call it in the air... chicken." Dean flipped the coin and Sam caught it in the air.

"I'm going." Sam told him.

"I said I'd go." Dean told him.

"I'm going." Sam said firmly.

"All right." Dean said smirking that his plan worked as Sam began tying the rope around his waist.

"Don't drop me." Sam told him and we lowered him down.

* * *

After we pulled Sam up from the hole we got back into the car. Sam examined the dead beetle in his hand while I looked over his shoulder at it.

"So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking, Sam." Dean said sarcastically.

"There were no tunnels, no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat, but..." Sam broke off for us to fill in the blanks.

"How many did you find down there?" I asked him.

"Ten."

"It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain." Dean told him.

"Well, maybe there were more." I suggested.

"I don't know, it sounds like a stretch to me." Dean told me.

"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before." I reminded him. As we drove through the town we passed a sign for an open house.

"I know a good place to start." Dean said as we passed another sign advertising that model houses were open and a BBQ. "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how 'bout you?" Sam and I both gave him knowing looks. "What, we can't talk to the locals?" He asked us.

"And the free food's got nothin' to do with it?" Sam asked him.

"Of course not. I'm a professional." Dean told us and I nearly burst with laughter.

"Right." We pulled over at an open house and went to the door.

"Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out." Dean told us.

"Why?" Sam asked him.

"Well, manicured lawns, "How was your day, honey?" I'd blow my brains out." Dean explained to him.

"There's nothing wrong with "normal"." Sam told him and I rolled my eyes. Sam was always the odd man out when it came to our life. He wanted the whole normal package while the rest of us wanted this life. After living in it for so long, I couldn't picture not hunting.

"I'd take our family over normal any day." Dean said as we approached the house and knocked on the door.

"Welcome." The owner said opening the door.

"This the barbeque?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah, not the best weather, but... I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are... ?" Larry asked looking between all of us.

"Dean. This is my girlfriend Liz and my brother Sam." we all shook hands.

"Sam, Dean, Liz, good to meet you. So, you three are interested in Oasis Plains?" Larry asked us.

"Yes, sir." I told him smiling.

"Let me just say - we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or sexual orientation." Larry told us smiling and I looked at the boys in confusion.

"Our father is getting on in years, and we're just lookin' for a place for him." Sam told him trying to clear anything up for him.

"Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in." Larry took us outside to the backyard where a lot of people were chatting and eating.

"You said you were the developer?" Dean asked him.

"Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains." He said as we walked over to a woman. "This is my wife, Joanie."

"Hi there."

"Hi." I said as we all shook hands.

"Hi, nice to meet you."

"Liz, Sam and Dean."

"Sam." Sam shook her hand.

"Pleasure." She told him smiling.

"Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses." He told her jokingly.

"Right." she said as we all laughed.

"Will you excuse me?" He nodded his head to us and left.

"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live." She told us as another woman approached us, her black hair pulled back into a tight bun.

"Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome, head of sales." She said introducing herself.

"And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very noisy neighbor, though." She said as she walked away.

"She's kidding, of course. I take it you two are interested in becoming homeowners." She said looking between the three of us.

"Well..." Dean said looking at us.

"Y-yeah, well..." They both seemed at a loss for words today.

"Well, let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or sexual orientation." I shook my head to her. What was I supposed to be, invisible."

"Right. Um... I'm gonna go talk to Larry. Okay, honey?" He walked away smacking my ass on his way. I smiled awkwardly to Linda who blushed at her mistake. I quickly turned and followed Dean.

* * *

Dean and I were walking downstairs with Larry getting the last of the tour of the house.

"You've got three choices - carpet, hardwood, and tile." Dean and I looked around the area and to the floors.

"Whoa. Someone likes bugs." Dean said bringing our attention to the jar of bugs on the table.

"My son - he's into insects. He's very... inquisitive." Larry told us. We walked outside again to see Sam talking with a young boy.

"Matthew." Guess that's Larry's son. "I am so sorry about my son and his... pet."

"It's no bother." Sam told him.

"Excuse us." Both Larry and Matthew walked away from us and I watched them go.

"Remind you of somebody?" Sam asked him. Larry was yelling at his son and it brought back memories of Sam and John. They were always at each others throats. "Dad?" Sam asked his brother.

"Dad never treated us like that." Dean told him.

"Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. You don't remember?" Sam asked him.

"Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line." Dean told his brother taking his fathers side. This job was going to be a long one, I could feel it.

"Right. Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bow hunting."

"Bow hunting's an important skill." Dean told him and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. How was your tour?" Sam asked us changing the subject.

"Oh, it was excellent. I'm ready to buy." I told him and they laughed at me. "So you might be onto somethin'. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here." I told him.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this severe allergic reaction to bee stings." I told hm.

"More bugs." Sam pointed out.

"More Bugs." Dean told him nodding.

* * *

While Sam drove through the neighborhood, Dean looked through John's journal.

"You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean asked.

"Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations." I told him.

"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity." Dean said looking back at me.

"Yeah, me neither." I sat back in thought.

"Maybe they're being controlled somehow. You know, by something or someone." I suggested again.

"You mean, like Willard?" Sam asked me.

"Yeah, bugs instead of rats."

"There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals - elementals, telepaths." Sam listed off.

"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing. Larry's kid - he's got bugs for pets." Dean said after a few seconds of thinking.

"Matt?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah."

"He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula." Sam told us.

"You think he's our Willard?" I asked them.

"I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess." Sam told us.

"Ooh, hey. Pull over here." Dean said to Sam. Sam pulled into the empty driveway of one of the homes Larry and Lynda were trying to sell.

"What are we doing here?" I asked Dean.

"It's too late to talk to anybody else." He told us getting out of the car.

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam asked him.

"I wanna try the steam shower." Dean said winking at me. "Come on." Sam didn't move the car. "Come on!" Sam shook his head but pulled the car into the garage and Dean closed it behind us.

* * *

The next morning I woke up to someone shacking. I quickly pulled my gun out from under my pillow and the person backed away slowly. On the other side of my gun was Dean.

"Dean? What the hell are you doing?" I asked him putting my gun down.

"I was gunna try the shower, you comin'?" I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Why would I join you in the shower?" I asked him and he gave me a look before crawling on my bed.

"Come on, you know you want to." He gave me that smirk that could make me do anything, and it worked.

"Oh, fine." he pulled me out of bed and into the shower.

* * *

Later we heard knocking on the door and I laughed lightly.

"You ever comin' out of there?" Dean asked us.

"What?" Dean asked him.

"A police call came in on the scanner." Sam told us.

"Hold on." I called to him.

"Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on." Dean walked to the bathroom door and stuck his head out with a towel on his head.

"This shower is awesome." Dean told him and I laughed as I dried off and got dressed.

"Come on." Sam said.

* * *

We pulled up to a house with Larry and an ambulance in front of it and got out. We approached Larry who had just finished talking on the phone and a body was being carried out in a body bag.

"Hello. You're, uh, back early." Larry said when he turned back to us.

"Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood." I told him looking at the body bag.

"What's goin' on?" Sam asked motioning to the ambulance.

"You guys met, uh... Lynda Bloome at the barbeque?" He asked us.

"The realtor." Sam said signifying that we knew her.

"Well, she, uh... passed away last night." Immediately my head turned to him.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"I'm still tryin' to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now." Larry told us.

"It's okay." Sam told him.

"Excuse me." Larry nodded at us and left.

"You know what we have to do, right?" Dean asked us.

"Yeah. Get in that house." Sam told him.

"See if we got a bug problem." I finished. A few moments later we'd climbed over the fence, up the side of the house, and through the bedroom window.

* * *

On the floor of her room an outline of her dead body was drawn on the carpet.

"This looks like the place." We walked over to another part of the room. Dean picked up a towel but dropped it quickly when dead spiders fell out of it. "Spiders. From Spider Boy?" Dean asked.

"Matt - maybe." Sam told us and we continued to look around for any clues.

* * *

As a school day was reaching its end we pulled up at a curb across the street from a school bus and watched Matt get off and begin walking.

"Isn't his house that way?" Dean asked pointing in the opposite direction.

"Yup." I told him.

"So where's he goin'?" He asked again. We got out of the car and began to follow Matt towards the woods. When we found him he was examining a grasshopper.

"Hey, Matt. Remember me?" Sam asked him.

"What are you doin' out here?" Matt asked us.

"Well, we wanna talk to you." I told him.

"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" Dean shook his head no to him. "W-wait. You're not serial killers?" The three of us laughed a little at the question.

"No, no. No, I think you're safe." Sam told him.

"So, Matt... you sure know a lot about insects." Dean said pointedly.

"So?" He asked us.

"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" I asked him.

"I hear she died this morning." He told me.

"Mm, that's right. Spider bites." I revealed to him.

"Matt... you tried to scare her with a spider." Sam reminded him.

"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" Matt asked us.

"You tell us." Dean told him.

"That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy." Matt told us and I smiled, he knew his defense well.

"You know about those?" I asked him.

"There is somethin' going on here. I don't know what... but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something." He put the grasshopper down and picked up his bag and we followed him to another area.

"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out." Sam told him.

"Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me." Matt told us.

"Why not?" Sam asked him.

"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son." Matt told us.

"I hear you." Sam told him.

"You do?" Dean asked. Sam turned and gave him a look.

"Matt, how old are you?" Sam asked him.

"Sixteen."

"Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen." Sam told him confidently.

"What?" Matt asked sounding like he didn't believe him.

"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad."

"What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family." Dean told him. This wasn't about Matt anymore. Sam sighed and glared at his brother.

"How much further, Matt?" Sam asked ignoring his brother.

"We're close." Matt told us not noticing the tension between brothers. Sam glared at Dean once more before we continued walked. A few moments later we reached a large clearing and the sounds of hundreds of different insects could be heard among the trees.

"I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's, um, part of an AP science class." Matt told us.

"You two are like peas in a pod." Dean told the two boys and Sam and I ignored him.

"What's been happening?" I asked him.

"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here." Matt told us.

"Why?" Dean asked him.

"I don't know."

"What's that?" Sam pointed to something in the middle of the clearing in a dark patch of grass. We walked over to it and saw it covered in hundreds of worms. Dean stepped on some and they fell creating a hole so he crouched down and used a stick to poke around in it.

"There's somethin' down there." He said putting the stick down on the ground and putting his hand into the hole. As he felt around inside of it he had a disgusted look on his face. When he brought his hand back up I looked horrified at what he was holding. Covered in dirt and worms was a human skull.

* * *

We pulled up to a local university and got out of the car. I grabbed the box of bones from next to me and we headed towards the building.

"So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave." Sam said looking into the box.

"Yeah. Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?" Dean suggested.

"Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs? And why now?" I asked.

"That's two questions. Yeah, so with that kid back there... why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?" Dean asked Sam.

"Just, uh... I know what the kid's goin' through." Sam told him.

"How 'bout tellin' him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?" Dean asked him.

"Dean, come on." They stopped walking and I turned to them. "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about." Sam told him.

"Just forget it, all right? Sorry I brought it up." Dean said trying to stop the argument.

"I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough." Sam said ignoring his brothers previous statement.

"So what are you sayin'? That Dad was disappointed in you?" Dean asked him.

"Was? Is. Always has been." Sam told him.

"Why would you think that?" Dean asked him.

"Because I didn't wanna bow hunt or hustle pool - because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which, to our whacked-out family, made me the freak." Sam explained to him.

"Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters." Dean joked.

"Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house." Sam told us.

"I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin' out of your mouth." Dean reminded him. This was like watching a tennis match, I was getting bored.

"You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad... I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me." Sam confessed to Dean.

"Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared." Dean told him.

"What are you talkin' about?" Sam asked him, smirking thinking it was a joke.

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talkin'... he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could." Sam's smirk began to fade at his brother's words. "Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me any of that?" Sam asked him.

"Well, it's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone." Sam looked down to the floor.

"Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment." I told them and we walked away.

He walks away.

* * *

"So, you three are students?" The professor asked us as we stood in his classroom with the bones.

"Yeah. Yeah, uh, we're in your class - Anthro 101?" Sam told him.

"Oh, yeah." He said looking at the bones.

"So, what about the bones, Professor?" I asked him.

"This is quite an interesting find you've made. I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The time frame and the geography heavily suggest Native American." The Professor told us.

"Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?" Sam asked him.

"Not according to the historical record. But the, uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." He told us.

"Right. Well, are there any local legends? Oral histories about the area?" I asked him trying to find as much information as possible.

"Well... you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth." he told us.

"All right." Dean said.

* * *

We were driving through Sapula when we had to stop and ask for directions. Once he told us where to go we were on our way again.

* * *

We entered a diner and found a Native American man playing cards at a table and approached him.

"Joe White Tree?" the man nodded at us. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right." I told him.

"We're students from the university..." Dean started but was unable to finish.

"No, you're not. You're lying." Joe told him.

"Well, truth is..."

"You know who starts sentence with "truth is"? Liars." Dean looked back at us and I pushed him back a little.

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." I told him

"I like her. She's not a liar." I gripped Dean's hand feeling his anger flow from him in strong waves. He never did have the best temper. "I know the area."

"What can you tell us about the history there?" I asked him.

"Why do you wanna know?" He asked me giving me a look.

"Something... something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there - Native American bones." I told him.

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people." Joe told us. By the end of his tale I was gripping Dean's hand tightly. Demon and monsters I understood but people? That's a whole other story.

"Insects. Sounds like nature to me. Six days." Dean said to us.

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." We all exchanged a look.

* * *

"When did the gas company man die?" Sam asked as we walked to the car.

"Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Dean told him.

"March twentieth?" Dean nodded to Sam. "That's the spring equinox." Sam told us.

"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." I said.

"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land."

"And on the sixth night - that's tonight." Dean said.

"If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" Sam asked.

"You don't break a curse. You get the hell out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." I told them and we all got into the car and drove away.

* * *

"Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood." Dean said on the phone as he drove. "Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe. Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power. Uh..." Dean quickly hung up the phone.

"Give me the phone." He handed Sam the phone and he quickly dialed a number. "Matt, it's Sam. Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay? Because something's coming. Yeah, a lot more. You've gotta make him listen, okay?" Sam told him.

"Give me the phone, give me the phone." Dean grabbed the phone from Sam quickly. "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts. Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?" Dean hung up with Matt. "Make him listen? What are you thinkin'?" Dean asked Sam but received no answer.

* * *

A while later, we pulled up outside Larry's house.

"Damn it, they're still here. Come on." Dean said and we ran for the house.

"Get off my property before I call the cops." Larry said coming out of his house with Matt behind him.

"Mr. Pike, listen..." Sam tried explaining.

"Dad, they're just tryin' to help." Matt said trying to help us.

"Get in the house!" His father ordered him his eyes never turning off us.

"I'm sorry. I told him the truth." Matt told us.

"We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Dean asked him.

"Look, it's 12:00 AM. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late." I told him.

"Yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm." Larry asked us sarcastically.

"Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas company guy? You don't think somethin' weird's goin' on here?" I asked him getting irritated.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem." Larry told us.

"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now." Dean told him.

"Dad, they're right, okay? We're in danger." Matt said trying to convince his dad.

"Matt, get inside! Now!" Larry ordered but Matt wasn't listening.

"No! Why won't you listen to me?!" Matt yelled at him.

"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!" Larry told him.

"Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?" Sam asked him.

"Wait." we all went quiet and listened. "You hear it?" Dean asked us. From somewhere nearby, a very loud buzzing noise could be heard and it was growing louder.

"What the hell?" Larry asked as the fluorescent bug light on the porch began to kill several bugs at a time.

"All right, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife." I told him.

"Guys." We all looked up to the sky and saw millions of bugs begin flying towards us, blanketing the sky.

"Oh my God."

"We'll never make it." Sam told us.

"Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!" we all turned and ran into the house.

"Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Sam asked Larry.

"No, it's just us." Larry told us as his wife entered the room.

"Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" She asked him looking at us.

"Call 911." Larry told her but she just gave him a look. "Joanie!"

"Okay." She picked up the phone and dialed the number.

"I need towels." Dean told him.

"Uh, in the closet." Larry told him. Dean grabbed the towels and tossed some to me.

"Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on - doors, windows, fireplace, everything, okay?" Sam told Matt and they went up stairs while Dean and I worked downstairs.

"Phones are dead." Jaonie told us.

"They must have chewed through the phone lines." I said as I began putting towels down plugging up an possible holes before the power shut off. "And the power lines."

"I need my cell." He looked at his phone. "No signal."

"You won't get one. They're blanketing the house." Dean said looking to the window. I followed his gaze and saw millions of bugs beginning to collect on the doors and windows, covering us.

"So what do we do now?" Larry asked us.

"We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise." Sam said as Dean ran to the kitchen.

"Hopefully?" Larry asked him.

"It's not an exact science." I told him. Dean ran back to us holding a can of bug spray.

"Bug spray?" Joanie asked looking at him.

"Trust me." Dean told her. We heard a creaking noise coming from around the fireplace.

"What is that?" Matt asked.

"The flue." Sam told him.

"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs." Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of bugs came into the living room, swarming all around us. We screamed and tried to protect ourselves. Dean used a lighter with the can of bug spray to make it flare up. The flame wards some of the bugs away. "All right, everybody upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!" I yelled to them and we ran upstairs to the attic with Sam closing the door behind us. After a moment of being in the attic, sawdust began to fall from the ceiling with the buzz of bees getting louder.

"Oh, God, what's that?" Joanie asked.

"Something's eating through the wood." Dean told her.

"Termites." Matt told us.

"All right, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" The family moved as far into the corner of the attic as they could. A second later, the bugs chewed a hole through the ceiling and swarm around the room. Sam and Dean frantically try to patch up the ceiling while I tried keeping as many bugs off the family as possible. The boys patch up job only worked for a minute and soon two more holes were chewed and while we tried warding them off nothing worked. The six of us stood in the corner, trying desperately to swat the bugs away for a few minutes before, suddenly, the bugs started to leave through the holes in the ceiling. Confused Sam Dean and I go to see what happened and through the hole we saw the bugs in the sky near the sun, one enormous colony.

* * *

Later that morning the three of us approached Larry, who was placing boxes into a moving van.

"What, no goodbye?" Dean asked him.

"Good timing. Another hour and we'd have been gone." Larry told us shaking our hands.

"For good?" I asked him.

"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again." Larry told us.

"You don't seem too upset about it." Sam said.

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." He looked behind him. I followed his gaze and saw Matt, who was carrying a box to the garbage. "...somehow, I really don't care." He said. We shared a smile and Sam walked to Matt

"So does this mean I'm forgiven?" Dean asked me putting his arm around my shoulders. I laughed and nodded my head at him, kissing him.

"I wanna find Dad." Sam told us after talking to Matt.

"Yeah, me too." Dean told him.

"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him." Sam told us.

"For what?" I asked him.

"All the things I said to him. He was just doin' the best he could." I smiled at him.

"Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats." We laughed.

"Yeah, probably." We stood in silence for a few seconds. "Let's hit the road."

"Let's." We got in the car and gave Larry and Matt one last wave before driving away.


	5. Home

I walked in with breakfast for me and the boys to see Dean on the computer while Sam was sitting on the bed drawing something.

"Hey guys." I greeted.

"Hey Liz." Dean greeted while Sam stayed quiet. Dean searched through the bag I'd brought in. "All right. I've been cruisin' some websites. I think I found a few candidates for our next gig. A fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali –- its crew vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas. Hey." Sam looked up from his drawing to the two of us. "Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?" Dean asked him.

"No. I'm listening. Keep going." Sam told him. Dean glanced at me then back to the computer screen as I watched Sam go back to his picture.

"And, here, a Sacramento man shot himself in the head. Three times." Dean looked to his brother before getting up and waving his hand in front of Sam's face. "Any of these things blowin' up your skirt, pal?" Sam ignored him and continued looking at his drawing.

"Wait. I've seen this." Sam told us ignoring the two of us.

"Seen what?" I asked him as he got up from the bed and went searching through his duffel bag. "What are you doing?" Sam pulled out a photo and compared his picture with the photo before looking to us.

"Dean, Liz, I know where we have to go next." Sam said looking from the photo to us.

"Where?" Dean asked him.

"Back home –- back to Kansas." Sam told us as I looked at them confused.

"Okay, random. Where'd that come from?" Dean asked him. Sam showed to photo to Dean and I looked over his shoulder.

"All right, um, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right? The house where Mom died?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah." Dean told him.

"And it didn't burn down, right? I mean, not completely, they rebuilt it, right?" Sam asked once more.

"I guess so, yeah. What the hell are you talkin' about?" Dean asked him but I had a feeling as to where this conversation was going and Dean wasn't going to like it.

"Okay, look, this is gonna sound crazy but….the people who live in our old house –- I think they might be in danger." Sam told us.

"Why would you think that?" I asked him as Dean was at a loss for words as to how his brother knew that.

"Uh…it's just, um….look, just trust me on this, okay?" Sam told us walking away with Dean and I following him.

"Wait, whoa, whoa, trust you?" Dean asked him. I knew Dean trusted his brother with his life but this wasn't much to go on right now.

"Yeah." Sam told him packing.

"Come on, man, that's weak. You gotta give me a little bit more than that." Dean told him. He wanted to know how this could be one of our cases and to tell you the truth so did I. I also wanted to know how Sam had known that there were people in their old house that needed help.

"I can't really explain it is all." he told us.

"Well, tough. I'm not goin' anywhere until you do." Sam sighed as Dean and I were both waiting for him to tell us why we had to go to Kansas.

"I have these nightmares." Sam told us.

"We've noticed." I told him, wanting him to say more.

"And sometimes….they come true." That phrase shocked us both into silence.

"Come again?" Dean asked, shock still evident in his voice.

"Look, Dean… Liz...I dreamt about Jessica's death –- for days before it happened." Sam told us.

"Sam, people have weird dreams, man. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." Dean told him as he sat on the bed Sam had been on when I'd walked in.

"No, I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything, and I didn't do anything about it 'cause I didn't believe it. And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started, man, this has to mean something, right?" Sam asked. Dean glanced look at me from the corner of his eye.

"I don't know." Dean told him honestly. Sam sat down across from Dean as I sat next to him.

"What do you mean you don't know, Dean? This woman might be in danger. I mean, this might even be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica!" Sam told him and I looked down. While I didn't know exactly what had happened I got some of the gory details from Dean.

"All right, just slow down, would ya?" He stood up and began to pace in thought. "I mean, first you tell me that you've got the Shining? And then you tell me that I've gotta go back home? Especially when…."

"When what?" Sam asked him.

"When I swore to myself that I would never go back there?" Dean told him sadly. I stood and went to Dean grabbing his hand.

"Dean, if we can save a life before someone dies from the evil thing possibly in the house... I think we should check it out but it's up to the two of you." I told him making sure he knew that whatever decision they made I'd support them.

"Look, Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure." Sam told him softly.

"I know we do." Dean told him holding my hand tightly. I smiled lightly at him and then we all started packing our things.

* * *

When we pulled up to their old house we sat in silence staring at it for a moment.

"You gonna be all right, man?" Sam asked Dean. They were the ones with the emotional ties to this place so I had no issue being here, but Dean...

"Let me get back to you on that." Dean told him as we got out of the car. After knocking on the door a woman answered it.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Federal—" Sam cut Dean off of his set line.

:I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother, Dean and our friend Liz Singer. My brother and I used to live here. You know, we were just drivin' by, and we were wondering if we could come see the old place." Sam told her. This was one of those taboos with hunters. You never give your real name. The fact that he did had both Dean and I surprised.

"Winchester. Yeah, that's so funny. You know, I think I found some of your photos the other night." she told us.

"You did?" dean asked her shocked. How did John miss that? the woman just nodded and stepped aside for us to come in.

"Come on in." she invited and we all walked in. "I'm Jenny by the way. Follow me." she led us into the kitchen where two kids were. A girl was sitting at a table doing with looked like homework and a boy was in a playpen jumping up and down ordering juice.

"Juice! Juice! Juice! Juice!"

"That's Ritchie. He's kind of a juice junkie." Jenny said as she pulled a sippy cup out of the refrigerator and handed it to her son. "But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy." she joked walking to her daughter. "Sari, this is Sam, Dean and Liz. Sam and Dean used to live here."

"Hi." the young girl said waving at us and Dean waved back.

"Hey, Sari." Sam greeted.

"So, you just moved in?" Dean asked taking notice of the moving boxes.

"Yeah, from Wichita." Jenny told us.

"You got family here, or….?" Dean asked trying to figure out why she would come here from Wichita.

"No. I just, uh….needed a fresh start, that's all. So, new town, new job –- I mean, as soon as I find one. New house." she told us.

"So, how you likin' it so far?" Sam asked her.

"Well, uh, all due respect to your childhood home –- I mean, I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here." Dean smiled weakly at her words. "But this place has its issues."

"What do you mean?" I asked her instantly hoping what she was going to say had nothing to do with our job.

"Well, it's just getting old. Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly." she told us. Damn.

"Oh, that's too bad. What else?" Dean told her thinking the same thing I was.

"Um…sink's backed up, there's rats in the basement. I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain." she told us laughing lightly.

"No. Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?" Dean asked her not taking any offense to her words.

"It's just the scratching, actually." Jenny told us and I glanced at Dean.

"Mom?" Jenny knelt down next to Sari. "Ask them if it was here when they lived here." she told her mother.

"If what was here, Sari?" I asked her kneeling down next to her.

"The thing in my closet." she told me.

"Oh, no, baby, there was nothing in their closets. Right?" she asked looking at them.

"Right. No, no, of course not." Sam told the child smiling.

"She had a nightmare the other night." Jenny told us as she and I stood.

"I wasn't dreaming. It came into my bedroom –- and it was on fire." I turned to Sam and Dean and was just as shocked as they were.

* * *

After getting a larger tour of the house as it is now we were walking outside thinking of everything we'd learned.

"You hear that? A figure on fire." Sam reminded us of Sari's words in the kitchen.

"And that woman, Jenny, that was the woman in your dreams?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah. And you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights, both signs of a malevolent spirit." Sam told us.

"Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are comin' true." Dean told him.

"Well, forget about that for a minute. The thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Mom and Jessica?" Sam asked us.

"I don't know!" Dean yelled getting frustrated with his brothers questions.

"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?" Sam asked again.

"Or maybe it's something else entirely, Sam, we don't know yet." I reminded them.

"Well, those people are in danger, Liz. We have to get 'em out of that house." Sam told us.

"And we will." I told him.

"No, I mean now." Sam told me.

"And how you gonna do that, huh? You got a story that she's gonna believe?" I asked him.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sam asked.

* * *

"We just gotta chill out, that's all. You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?" Dean told us at a gas station.

"We'd try to figure out what we were dealin' with. We'd dig into the history of the house." Sam said leaning onto the side of the car.

"Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened." I reminded them.

"Yeah, but how much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?" Sam asked Dean. Dean might remember more seeing as how he was older but how much could a boy that young remember now?

"About that night, you mean?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah."

"Not much. I remember the fire…the heat." Dean told us trying to remember the night their mother died. "And then I carried you out the front door." Dean told us.

"You did?" Sam asked him confusion clouding his face.

"Yeah, what, you never knew that?" Dean asked him.

"No." Sam answered shaking his head.

"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mom was….was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her." Dean told us.

"And he never had a theory about what did it?" I asked him. They were both getting emotional over their past in their own ways.

"If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times." He told me.

"Okay. So, if we're gonna figure out what's goin' on now…we have to figure out what happened back then. And see if it's the same thing." I said looking between them.

"Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time." Dean said thinking about the job.

"Does this feel like just another job to you?" Sam asked Dean. Dean remained silent for a moment.

"I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom." Dean told us and walked away.

"Don't worry Sam. He's having a hard time with this just as much as you are." I told him as we finished filling up the car and paying for it then waiting for Dean.

* * *

Sam, Dean and I were at Guenther's Auto Repair talking to the owner who used to work with John before he turned to hunting.

"So you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah, we used to, a long time ago. Matter of fact, it must be, uh…twenty years since John disappeared. So why the cops interested all of a sudden?" the owner asked us.

"Oh, we're re-opening some of our unsolved cases, and the Winchester disappearance is one of 'em." I told him. I wasn't often that we had to dig into a fellow hunters life but I told them I'd support them no matter what they chose. I'd stand by that until the day I died.

"Oh, well, what do you wanna know about John?" he asked us.

"Well, whatever you remember, you know, whatever sticks out in your mind." I told him smiling.

"Well…he was a stubborn bastard, I remember that. And, uh, whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It's that whole Marine thing." I saw the boys nod at his words. We all knew how John would communicate with us by coordinates. "But, oh, he sure loved Mary. And he doted on those kids."

"But that was before the fire?" Sam asked him.

"That's right." he told us.

"He ever talk about that night?" Dean asked him.

"No, not at first. I think he was in shock." he told us.

"Right. But eventually? What did he say about it?" Sam asked him.

"Oh, he wasn't thinkin' straight. He said somethin' caused that fire and killed Mary." he told us and I looked down in thought. This made me wonder how much he knew from the beginning.

"He ever say what did it?" Dean asked him. Every hunter has that one creature that they want to kill. My father killed the thing that killed my mother but the Winchesters' have yet to get their revenge. Sometimes I forgot that.

"Nothin' did it. It was an accident –- an electrical short in the ceiling or walls or somethin'. I begged him to get some help, but…." the owner broke off thinking of the past.

"But what?" I asked him.

"Oh, he just got worse and worse." the owner told us.

"How?" Dean asked him.

"Oh, he started readin' these strange ol' books. He started goin' to see this palm reader in town." the owner told us. So he'd started putting the pieces together.

"Palm reader? Uh, do you have a name?" I asked him and he scoffed at me.

"No."

* * *

Sam, Dean and I had parked by a payphone so Sam could look up all the palm readers in town.

"All right, so there are a few psychics and palm readers in town. There's someone named El Divino. There's, uh –-" he laughed "—there's the Mysterious Mister Fortinsky. Uh, Missouri Moseley—"

"Wait, wait. Missouri Moseley?" Dean asked.

"What?" Sam asked looking at him confused.

"That's a psychic?" dean asked him.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess so." Sam told him and Dean went into the backseat of the car and pulled out John's journal.

"In Dad's journal…here, look at this. First page, first sentence, read that." Dean told Sam handing him his dad's book.

"I went to Missouri and I learned the truth." Sam read.

"I always thought he meant the state." Dean told us.

* * *

We sat in the living room of Missouri who we hoped could tell us more about their dad. She walked into the room from the back with a man she'd been talking with.

"All right, there. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you." the man thanked her and left with her closing the door behind him. "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener." she told us.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked him.

"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news." she told us walking to her back room. "Well? Sam, Dean, Liz, come on already, I ain't got all day." she left the room and we all gave each other a look before following her. "Well, lemme look at ya." she laughed at the boys. "Oh, you boys grew up handsome. And you were one goofy-lookin' kid, too." she said pointing Dean. Dean glared at her and Sam smirked at the comment. "Sam." she grabbed his hand and got a sad look on her face. "Oh, honey…I'm sorry about your girlfriend. And your father –- he's missin'?" she asked looking at the two of them.

"How'd you know all that?" Sam asked her.

"Well, you were just thinkin' it just now." Missouri told him and we looked at her surprised.

"Well, where is he? Is he okay?" Dean asked him quickly.

"I don't know." Missouri told him.

"Don't know? Well, you're supposed to be a psychic, right?" Dean asked her loudly.

"Dean..." I tried calming him.

"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please." I took Dean's hand and we sat down on the couch. Missouri suddenly snapped at Dean. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!"

"I didn't do anything." Dean told her.

"But you were thinkin' about it." Missouri told him. Sam smiled at her while I squeezed Dean's hand hiding my own.

"Okay. So, our dad –- when did you first meet him?" Sam asked her.

"He came for a reading. A few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say…I drew back the curtains for him." Missouri told him.

"What about the fire? Do you know about what killed our mom?" Dean asked her.

"A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."

"And could you?" I asked her.

"I…." She broke off and shook her head.

"What was it?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know. Oh, but it was evil." Missouri told us softly.

"So…you think somethin' is back in that house?" Missouri asked us.

"Definitely." I told her and she just stared at me for a moment before looking down a little.

"I don't understand." she told us.

"What?" Sam asked her.

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?" she asked looking at us.

"We don't know. But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once –- it just feels like something's starting." Sam told him.

"That's a comforting thought." Dean said looking between all of us.

* * *

We took Missouri back to their old house and knocked on the door. She was going to feel around the house for any signs of the creature that killed Mary.

"Sam, Dean. What are you doing here?" Jenny asked as she opened the door with her son on her hip.

"Hey, Jenny. This is our friend, Missouri." Sam introduced.

"If it's not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the old house. You know, for old time's sake." Dean told her.

"You know, this isn't a good time. I'm kind of busy." Jenny told us.

"Listen, Jenny, it's important." Dean told her and Missouri smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"Give the poor girl a break, can't you see she's upset?" Missouri told Dean. "Forgive this boy, he means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed, but hear me out." Missouri said to Jenny while Dean looked at her stunned.

"About what?" Jenny asked her.

"About this house." Missouri told her and Jenny held her son closer to her.

"What are you talking about?" Jenny asked Missouri trying to look as though she didn't know what we were talking about.

"I think you know what I'm talking about. You think there's something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?" Missouri asked her.

"Who are you?" Jenny asked looking at the four of us.

"We're people who can help, who can stop this thing. But you're gonna have to trust us, just a little." Missouri told her and she looked at us unsure what to think.

* * *

"If there's a dark energy around here, this room should be the center of it." Missouri told us as she walked around Sari's room.

"Why?" Sam asked her.

"This used to be your nursery, Sam. This is where it all happened." Missouri told us as she continued walking the room. Sam glanced up at the ceiling while Dean pulled out his EMF. "That an EMF?" she asked looking at us.

"Yeah." Dean told her.

"Amateur." she told him and he glared at her. he nudged me and showed me that the EMF is beeping frantically. "I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain't the thing that took your mom."

"Wait, are you sure?" I asked her and she nodded to me. "How do you know?"

"It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It's somethin' different." she told us.

"What is it?" Dean asked her.

"Not it." she told us opening the closet. "Them. There's more than one spirit in this place." she told us walking into the closet.

"What are they doing here?" Dean asked her.

"They're here because of what happened to your family. You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds. And sometimes, wounds get infected." she told us.

"I don't understand." Sam said giving her a confused look.

"This place is a magnet for paranormal energy. It's attracted a poltergeist. A nasty one. And it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead." she told us coming out of the closet for a moment.

"You said there was more than one spirit." I said reminding her of her words.

"There is. I just can't quite make out the second one." she said walking back into the closet.

"Well, one thing's for damn sure –- nobody's dyin' in this house ever again. So whatever is here, how do we stop it?" Dean asked her.

* * *

We sat around Missouri's table which was filled with different herbs and roots.

"So, what is all this stuff, anyway?" Dean asked filling pouches with all of the different things.

"Angelica Root, Van Van oil, crossroad dirt, a few other odds and ends." she told us.

"Yeah? What are we supposed to do with it?" Dean asked her.

"We're gonna put them inside the walls in the north, south, east, west corners on each floor of the house." Missouri told us.

"We'll be punchin' holes in the dry wall. Jenny's gonna love that."

"She'll live." Missouri said slyly.

"And this'll destroy the spirits?" I asked her picking up one of the sacks of goodies.

"It should. It should purify the house completely. We'll each take a floor. But we work fast. Once the spirits realize what we're up to, things are gonna get bad." She told us.

* * *

Missouri led Jenny and the kids out of the house while Sam, Dean and I waited inside. When she came back in we each. We each took a floor and put the sacks into the walls. When it came to putting the last sack in the wall I felt as though something was watching me. I looked behind me but I saw nothing. I made a hole in the wall and put the sack in it in time to feel something impale my arm. I pulled a knife out of my arm and held it close to my chest while looking around for anything else that could attack me. All the sudden a light burst forward and I felt the thing watching me was gone. I met with the boys in the kitchen and saw them hugging.

"Well isn't this a surprise." I said smiling at them.

"Shut up." Dean said and I walked to them and hugged them both as tight as I could.

* * *

A few hours later we were all standing in Jenny's kitchen.

"You sure this is over?"

"I'm sure. Why? Why do you ask?" Missouri asked him.

"Never mind." he sighed. "It's nothin', I guess." he told us. We then heard Jenny enter the house.

"Hello? We're home." she walked into the kitchen and looked around at the large mess. "What happened?"

"Hi, sorry. Um, we'll pay for all of this." Dean said looking at her confused.

"Don't you worry. Dean's gonna clean up this mess." Missouri told her and Dean just stood there staring at her. "Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop." he shook his head and walked away from us. "And don't cuss at me!" Dean stopped then continued walking away muttering under his breath. A little while later, the four of us left the house with Jenny waving us off before closing the door.

* * *

Later that night the boys and I were sitting in the car outside her her.

"All right, so, tell me again, what are we still doin' here?" I asked Sam while watching the house.

"I don't know. I just…I still have a bad feeling." Sam told us.

"Why? Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing, the house should be clean, it should be over." Dean reminded him.

"Yeah, well, probably. But I just wanna make sure, that's all." Sam told us.

"Yeah, well, problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now." Dean said sliding down in his seat closing his eyes. I shook my head and watched the house and noticed Jenny screaming and banging on the window.

"Dean. Look, Dean!" Dean looked at the window and we rushed out of the car and towards the house.

"You two grab the kids, I'll get Jenny." Dean told us.

"Be careful!" I called out to him. We ran to Richie's room first and grabbed him. We then ran to Sari's bedroom and when we got there a figure on fire was standing in the closet making its way out with Sari screaming at it. Sam rushed in and picked Sari up while he still held Richie while I held my gun towards the spirit.

"Don't look. Don't look!" Sam told Sari as we left the bedroom. We all rushed down the stairs but then Sam stopped and put the kids down. "All right, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back." Sam told her and suddenly and invisible force made Sam fall to the floor. He slide backwards into another room with me following him.

"Sam!" I heard Sari scream and run outside then I heard the door slam shut. Sam had been drug inside the kitchen and flung into a set of cabinets. I ran to him and helped him up only for him to be pinned against the wall and me thrown to the other side of the room by the same invisible force. I got up and tried to help Sam again as the fire figure made its way towards us.

"Sam? Liz!" I heard Dean call to us.

"Dean! In here!" I heard him run to us and he held his gun out to the figure.

"No, don't! Don't!" Sam said stopping him.

"What, why?!" Dean asked him.

"Because I know who it is. I can see her now." Sam told us.

"Who is she?" I asked as the fire vanished. Standing in front of us was a woman in a white nightgown. I saw Dean's expression soften as he lowered his gun slowly. "Dean?"

"Mom?" Dean called softly. My eyes widened and I looked back at her. She smiled and stepped closer to us.

"Dean." she said as tears formed in Dean's eyes. Mary walked away from him and closer to Sam and I. "Thank you for taking care of them." I nodded at her smiling.

"It's nice to finally meet you." I told her.

"Sam." Sam smiled weakly, crying as his mother's smile faded. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sam asked her but she just looked at him sadly, saying nothing. She walked away from us and looked up at the ceiling.

"You get out of my house. And let go of my son." Once again, she burst into flames. When she was entirely engulged, the fire reached the ceiling and disappeared. The force holding Sam to the wall was gone and he and I walked to Dean. We all looked at each other and I held both their hands.

"Now it's over."

* * *

The next morning Dean and I were standing by the car with Jenny looking through the old photos of Dean and his family.

"Thanks for these." he told her.

"Don't thank me, they're yours." Jenny told him as Dean put them in the trunk and Jenny walked back to her kids. I looked over at Sam sitting on the front steps talking with Missouri.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" I asked Dean. Dean put his arm over my shoulders and held me close to him.

"I don't know." he told me.

"He'll live but this ability of his, do you think it has anything to do with what had happened in that house all those years ago?"

"I wish I knew. At least then I would know how to help."

"Don't worry. We'll help him. After all that what friends and family are for, right?" I asked him smiling.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." he told me pulling me close to him.

"Dean, have you ever thought of settling down? After a while of hunting?" I asked him.

"Why would I? This is a good life." he said looking to me.

"Yeah, it is. But I would think that one day you would want to settle down and have a family with someone." I said looking down at the ground.

"Maybe, one day. Until then we hunt." he told me pulling me closer.

"Yeah, we hunt." I said thinking of him.

"Sam, you ready?" Dean called to his brother and Sam nodded at us. We all got into the car with the windows down as Jenny thanked us.

"Don't you boys be strangers." Missouri told us smiling.

"We won't." Dean told her.

"Liz." Missouri called to me.

"Yes ma'am?" I smiled out the window.

"It's time." she told me and I looked away from her before nodding.

"See you around." Missouri said waving as we drove away.

"Dean can we stop by my dad's? I need to show you something." I told him. He nodded at me and we headed to me only secret.

* * *

When we got to the car lot I got out and went inside with the boys following me.

"Dad! I'm home!" I called out and immediately heard small footsteps followed by larger ones running down the stairs.

"Momma!" a little boy ran to me and I knelt down to meet him with a large grin on my face. He flew into my arms and I held him close.

"Welcome home. Liz." I stood up and hugged my dad.

"Thanks for watching him Daddy." I said then I looked back to the confused boys behind me. I knelt by my son's side and looked up to them.

"Sam, Dean, this is Daniel, my son. Danny this is your Uncle Sam and your daddy." I introduced them. they both looked at me shocked by the discovery.

"Hi Uncle Sam. Hi Daddy. Momma can I go play in my room?" he asked me.

"Of course, hunny." I said smiling as he ran upstairs. I turned to the boys and we all stared at each other.

"I'm going to get me a drink. You want anything?" Dad asked us.

"A beer." I told him. As Dad left Sam followed him leaving Dean and I alone.

"How old is he?" Dean asked me.

"Ten." I told him. I knew Dad and Sam were giving us time to talk. I was just waiting for Dean to yell at me.

"Ten years ago you were threatening to kill me for cheating and now you tell me I'm a dad?!" he asked his voice raising.

"Look, Dean..."

"Don't 'look, Dean' me! I had a right to know! Why didn't you tell me when you found out?!" He asked and I glanced upstairs.

"I was scared!" I confessed to him. "I didn't know what to do! I told my dad and he told me to tell you but every time I tried picking up the phone to call you my fear kicked in!" I told him and he sat down.

"Can I see him?" he asked me.

"Of course, he is your son. Danny! Can you come here for a minute?!" I called upstairs. Danny rushed down and came into the living room next to me. "You're daddy wanted to spend some time with you okay?" he just nodded at me and looked at Dean. "Behave yourselves." I told them as I went to the kitchen.

"Are you alright?" my dad asked me.

"I'm still scared of what will happen. Dean and I never talked about having a family." I told them trying to listen in on what Dean and Danny were saying.

"They'll be fine. We worked a job a while back back that had a kid involved. He was very protective of him and always made sure that he was safe. Risked his life for him." Sam told me. I smiled and nodded at him and thought about everything that was happening and how things would change.

"Are you going to take him on hunts with us?" Sam asked me and I looked at my dad.

"Dean and I will have to talk about that but I would prefer if he stayed here for a while longer. Danny's only five." I said. Sam put his hand on mine and we all waited in silence.

"Hey, Liz, could you come here a sec?" I took a deep breathe and walked into the living room.

"What is it?" I asked sitting next to Danny. Danny crawled into my lap and played with something that Dean had given him.

"I understand why you didn't tell me about him. What do we do now?" he asked me.

"For one we decide if he comes with us on hunts or he stays here and we come and visit." I told him.

"I want him to come with us just so I could get to know him and so we can be a family." Dean told me.

"What if something follows us back to the hotel we happen to be staying at? He'll be in danger of the creature. I reminded him.

"We'll take precautions everywhere we go." he told me and I sighed. I owed him and I knew he'd never tell me that.

"Okay."


End file.
